Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz
On February 6, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held an assessment with defense officials regarding plans to allow Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave the Gaza Strip in line with a plan recently proposed by United States President Donald Trump.
Katz met with outgoing Israeli Defense FOrces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, director general of the ministry and incoming chief of staff Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, and several other top officers.
“I instructed the IDF to prepare a plan that would allow any resident in Gaza that would be interested, to leave for anywhere in the world that would agree to absorb them,” Katz said in a video statement.
“The plan will include options to leave through the land crossings, and special arrangements for exit through the sea and the air,” he added.
Just two days earlier, Trump declared his desire for the U.S. to “take over” and “own” Gaza after relocating more than two million Palestinians who live there.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it,” Trump said in prepared remarks at the start of a joint press conference with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We will be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, [for] get[ting] rid of the destroyed buildings, level[ing] it out, creat[ing] an economy development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing to the people of the area,” he continued
“[We’ve got to] do something different. You just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has been for 100 years,” he added, noting that other leaders in the region backed his idea.
“It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have… lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there,” Trump said of Gaza, adding that he planned to visit the Strip as well as Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Much of Gaza, including nearly all of its infrastructure, have been destroyed by the IDF following the Hamas-led surprise October 7 attack of 2023. Senior Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have repeatedly stated that they will not allow the group to rule over the Strip.
Trump insisted the Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza after over 15 months of Israeli bombardment.
The president reiterated his belief that Palestinians should be removed from the “hellhole” of the Strip and placed in one or multiple other countries “with humanitarian hearts.”
“Gaza is a hellhole right now. It was before the bombing started, frankly, and we’re going to give people a chance to live in a beautiful community that’s safe and secure,” he said.
“I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy,” Trump said and then referred to Gaza as potentially “the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent.”
Asked whether American troops would be sent to Gaza, Trump said, “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”
Earlier, Trump suggested that Palestinians would be relocated from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. However, both countries refused the proposal, which led to international condaminations. All Palestinian sides also appeared to be against the plan.
Doubling down on the problematic proposal, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on February 6 that Gaza currently is “not habitable” due to dangers, such as unexploded weapons, and that people will have to live elsewhere while the area is rebuilt.
Answering a reporter’s question during a visit to the Dominican Republic, Rubio said that other countries should step forward and offer to help rebuild Gaza. However, he stopped short of clarifying whether Palestinians would be able to return to the Strip under Trump’s proposal to take over the area.
“I think that’s just a realistic reality, that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim,” Rubio said.
Rubio noted Trump’s controversial remarks were aimed in part to encourage other countries that “have both the economic and technological capacity” to help as well with rebuilding.
“President Trump has offered to go in and be a part of that solution. If some other countries are willing to step forward and do it themselves, that would be great, but no one seems to be rushing forward to do that,” he said.
He added that “countries in the region who express a lot of concern about the Palestinian people” should “find a solution and answer to their problem.”
Overall, Trump’s proposal appears to be very serious. Israel is already on board and while Arab states have voiced their rejection, some pressure from the U.S. could force them to support the plan. Palestinian parties, including Hamas, will not likely accept the perusal. However, many people in Gaza, which endured much during the war with more than 47,000 casualties, will likely comply as they are exhausted.
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damn smh 🤦
perhaps there will be “resettlement in the east.” chumpo is a good little goy whore who will do as he is told by his zio masters.
well the palestinians danced about demanding to drive the israelis into the sea. october 7th was monstrous machinations of joe bidens making imo and he will be pleased because either way one or the other settlements based on religious or ethnic identity has succumbed to violence. imo. cause “nothing is what it seems”. qe2
october 7 was a well planned and well executed military operation against military targets. 320 zio troops killed. 59 paramilitary police killed. unfortunately the undisciplined zio tik tok lgbt army wet its knickers and panicked and plastered the area with heavy weapons, killing 318 zio settlers.
all the israhellis should be resettled in any country stupid enough to take them. maybe antarctica or chumpo’s greenland.