Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in a meeting Thursday with senior defense officials and cabinet ministers, the office of one of the attendees told The Times of Israel.
A Defense Ministry plan discussed at the meeting would allow Gazans who choose to leave the Strip to do so by air and by sea starting in October, according to Hebrew media reports. The plan is set to be talked over with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Israel next week, Channel 12 reported.
Defense sources cited by Channel 13 said Israel was in talks with several African nations about receiving the displaced Gazans, but no agreement has been reached. Channel 12 reported last month that Israel was holding such talks with South Sudan, Libya, Uganda and Somaliland.
During the meeting on Thursday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed skepticism about the prospect that any country would agree to take in Gazans, and said the displacement plan was not worth the investment if they would be back home within a year, according to Channel 12.
Netanyahu reportedly responded that Israel wouldn’t spend much money on the plan, but should move it forward.
“Do it,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was said to have urged. “It’s the mission of the hour.”
Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel reportedly argued that Israel should push Egypt to take in the Gazans — an idea the country has been vehemently opposed to. “You try,” Netanyahu was said to have dismissively responded.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
The premier last week accused Egypt of preventing the exit of Palestinians fleeing the Strip, which has been devastated by the war that began with the Hamas terror group’s onslaught of October 7, 2023.
Cairo condemned the comment, with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty saying displacement would be the “liquidation” of the Palestinian cause.
Netanyahu has in recent months publicly embraced the goal of precipitating an exodus from Gaza. He was previously all but mum on the topic, even as members of his government spoke openly about it as early as May last year.
Netanyahu’s public embrace of the project came after US President Donald Trump announced in February a plan to take over Gaza, permanently oust its residents and rebuild it as a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Following Trump’s announcement, Defense Minister Israel Katz had in February announced the establishment of a Defense Ministry directorate tasked with enabling Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave Gaza.
Trump’s plan sparked outrage worldwide, with critics arguing that it would amount to ethnic cleansing.
Members of Netanyahu’s government, including Smotrich and Ben Gvir, have vowed to reestablish Jewish settlements in Gaza, though the premier has denied pursuing that goal.