Report: Israel Katz instructs IDF to prepare plans for Trump Gaza reloca

Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the IDF to prepare a plan for the voluntary evacuation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to a report today (Thursday), according to Channel 14 News.

In his statement, Katz said:

"I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to allow voluntary departure for Gaza residents.

"I welcome the bold plan of US President Trump, which could enable a large population in Gaza to leave for various places around the world.

"Hamas has used Gaza residents as human shields and built terror infrastructure in the heart of the population, and now holds them hostage, extorting money from them through humanitarian aid, and preventing them from leaving Gaza.

"I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan that will allow any resident in Gaza who wishes to do so to leave to any place in the world that agrees to accept them.

"The plan will include exit options at land crossings as well as special arrangements for sea and air departures.

"Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have made accusations and false allegations against Israel due to its activities in Gaza, are obligated by all laws to allow any Gazan resident to enter their territory - and their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse to do so. There are countries like Canada, which has an organized immigration program, that have previously expressed willingness to accept residents from Gaza.

"Gaza residents should be allowed to enjoy freedom of exit and migration as is customary everywhere in the world.

"I welcome the bold plan of US President Trump that can create extensive opportunities for population departure from Gaza for those who wish to do so, and also help them integrate optimally in destination countries, as well as enable the advancement of rehabilitation programs in a demilitarized and threat-free Gaza in the post-Hamas era - which will take many years."

Around the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview to Fox News, where he called President Donald Trump's plan to voluntarily relocate the Gazan population to other countries "remarkable" and "the first good idea" he's heard, though Netanyahu stressed that they could return once the Strip was rebuilt, while Trump has said that the relocation should be permanent.

Arab leaders from Egypt and Jordan to Qatar and Saudi Arabia have openly opposed Trump's relocation plan, and Jordan and Egypt's leaders are likely to voice these objections and present alternative plans when they meet with the President later this month. Arab foreign ministers are also set to meet at the end of the month to oppose the plan and present their own approach to the problem of living conditions in post-war Gaza.

Critics of the Trump plan call it "ethnic cleansing," including Congressman Al Green who has put forward articles of impeachment against the President for the plan. Trump has defended it on the grounds that the war has made the Gaza Strip unlivable and uninhabitable for many years, and that the area has been the scene of war and death for decades.