Israel moves to implement ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza

Israel has set in motion plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza, with Defence Minister Israel Katz ordering the army to prepare for the “voluntary” transfer of Palestinians from the besieged territory, following US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for mass displacement of the population.

Katz is reported to have instructed the military to develop plans enabling “voluntary” departures through land, sea and air routes “to any country willing to accept them,” thus endorsing Trump’s proposal which critics describe as ethnic cleansing masked as humanitarian intervention.

Trump announced his plan at a White House press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring that the US would “take over” and “own” Gaza. The announcement, which was met with near universal condemnation, was later partially walked back by his administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio claiming that any transfers would be temporary.

Netanyahu praised Trump as Israel’s “greatest friend” and called the proposal “remarkable,” suggesting that Palestinians “can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back” after Gaza’s reconstruction.

Critics point out that the rhetoric of presenting ethnic cleansing in the guise of humanitarianism ignores both history and the racist ideology of Zionism. To be a viable project, Zionism requires the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and its indigenous population. Israel has preserved Jewish supremacy in the territory by systematically preventing Palestinian refugees from exercising their legitimate right of return to their homeland ever since the mass expulsion of the 1948 Nakba.

READ: Republican Senator slams Trump’s Gaza ‘take over’ proposal

The UN strongly condemned Trump’s proposal, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning that forced displacement would indeed amount to ethnic cleansing. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas rejected it as a “serious violation” of international law, while Hamas branded it “racist” and “aggressive.”

Arab states have also denounced the plan. The Saudi Foreign Ministry reaffirmed “its unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”

Jordan’s Royal Court said that King Abdullah warned of the dangerous attempts to displace Palestinians, stressing that “any solution will not be at the expense of the security and stability of Jordan and the region.” He reaffirmed “the need to step up Arab efforts to support the steadfastness of Palestinians on their land, maintain the Gaza ceasefire and enhance the humanitarian response in the Strip.”

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty highlighted the urgent need for advancing recovery projects in Gaza, ensuring aid delivery and clearing rubble without displacing Palestinians from the enclave.

The Omani Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its “steadfast position and outright rejection of any attempts to displace the residents of Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” It emphasised the necessity of “respecting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on their land.”

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, warned that Trump’s plan would move the US “from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities,” while emphasising that Gaza’s destruction “reflects a calculated Israeli policy to make parts of the Strip unliveable.”

Saudi prince to Trump: Let the Palestinians return to Jaffa and Haifa