Ben Gvir unveils plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza
Far-right Israeli minister proposes relocating Gaza’s two million residents abroad, reviving fears of forced displacement and another Nakba
TEL AVIV, Israel (MNTV) — Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has unveiled a plan to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and relocate them abroad, drawing renewed scrutiny of Israeli efforts to engineer the territory’s demographic future.
Ben Gvir said that his proposal would seek to move about 250,000 Palestinians out of Gaza during the first year, followed by the expulsion of the remaining population over the next six years.
He claimed the plan was realistic and said unnamed countries were prepared to accept Palestinians from the territory.
The proposal, presented by Ben Gvir as “voluntary emigration,” has intensified concerns over an Israeli policy that critics say disguises the forced displacement of a civilian population behind carefully chosen language.
The Geneva Conventions prohibit the forcible transfer of civilians from occupied territory and recognize such displacement as a war crime.
Ben Gvir said Israel should encourage Gaza’s inhabitants to leave, while insisting that his proposal would not amount to forcing Palestinians from their homeland.
His position comes after months of increasingly explicit calls from senior Israeli officials for Palestinians to be transferred out of Gaza.
The minister said his Jewish Power party would seek the creation of a government ministry responsible for emigration if it remains part of the next coalition.
He described his proposal as the product of about 18 months of work and said it had been developed as a concrete plan.
A 20-page document prepared by Ben Gvir’s office, titled “National Work Plan for Voluntary Emigration from the Gaza Strip,” presents the proposed population transfer as a possible move after Israeli genocide of Palestinian population.
For Palestinians, however, proposals to remove Gaza’s population evoke the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced during the events surrounding Israel’s establishment in 1948.
The prospect of another mass displacement has therefore become one of the most deeply alarming aspects of Israel’s conduct during the Gaza war.
Ben Gvir’s proposal is not an isolated statement within Israel’s far-right political establishment. Defense Minister Israel Katz has also said Israel has prepared plans for removing Palestinians from Gaza if the United States approves such a move.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has gone further, advocating the extension of population-transfer proposals to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The proposals have also followed earlier calls by US President Donald Trump for Palestinians to leave Gaza, after which he suggested transforming the heavily devastated territory into a luxury resort destination.
Trump later backed away from the proposal amid strong international and regional opposition, including from Egypt.
Israel’s military offensive has already displaced the overwhelming majority of Gaza’s population internally.
According to figures from Israeli and Gaza health authorities, since October 2023 Israel has killed at least 73,470 Palestinians in Gaza, including more than 1,330 deaths reported after a ceasefire.
The latest proposal by Ben Gvir has consequently raised further questions about whether the destruction and displacement caused by Israel’s genocide could be followed by a deliberate effort to make the mass expulsion of Palestinians permanent.
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
