Israeli ministers promote Gaza removal proposals as violence and displacement continue
Israel Katz and Itamar Ben-Gvir have publicly advocated plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza, while the US State Department said it opposed forced displacement.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have publicly promoted proposals to remove Palestinians from Gaza, as Israeli strikes, displacement and worsening humanitarian conditions continue across the enclave.
Katz told a conference that removing Palestinians from Gaza was “the only solution” and said Israel was prepared to do so “by sea, by air and by every way possible”. Ben-Gvir separately proposed a seven-year plan, “Disengagement 710”, involving what he called “voluntary emigration”. He said he would establish a Migration Ministry if re-elected.
The US State Department said it did not support “any plan or proposal for the forced displacement, expulsion, or mandatory transfer” of Gaza’s population. It did not directly condemn the proposals advanced by Katz or Ben-Gvir.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported 73,658 deaths and 174,622 injuries in Gaza since October 2023, after adding 160 newly certified deaths. Al Jazeera reported continuing strikes during the week, including attacks that killed children and other civilians. Palestinian casualty figures and accounts of individual incidents have not been independently verified.
Humanitarian conditions have also deteriorated. The World Health Organization said water contamination had nearly tripled since January, while the Palestinian Water Authority reported that all five wastewater plants had shut down. Gaza civil defence officials said thousands of bodies were believed to remain beneath the rubble, with recovery constrained by a lack of heavy equipment.
In the occupied West Bank, demolitions and infrastructure destruction continued. Demolitions in Khirbet al-Tabban left 70 people, including 30 children, homeless, while further property damage and settler violence were reported in areas including Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, Ramallah, Qalqilya and East Jerusalem. Accounts of shootings and alleged attacks were provided by Palestinian authorities, local witnesses or media and are contested in some cases.
