Israeli Defense Minister Orders Soldiers To Prepare Plans To Help Relocate Gazans As Trump Wants

JAKARTA - Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, ordered the army to prepare a plan that would allow a "voluntary departure" of residents from Gaza, after US President Donald Trump drew widespread condemnation for announcing plans to take over the route.

Katz praised Trump's remarks about the United States aimed at taking over Gaza, recasting more than 2 million Palestinians living there and turning the region into the Central East Riviera.

"I welcome President Trump's bold plan, Gazans must be given the freedom to go and migrate, as is the norm around the world," Katz said on X.

Katz said the plan would include options for exiting via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departures by sea and air.

Hamas Basem official Naim accused Katz of trying to cover up "a country that failed to achieve its goals in the war in Gaza", and said Palestinians were too tied to their land to leave it.

The refugees of Palestinians are one of the most sensitive and explosive issues in the Middle East.

Forced or forced population evacuation under military occupation is a war crime, which was banned under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Israeli attacks that killed tens of thousands of people over the past 16 months forced Palestinians to repeatedly move to Gaza's territory for safety.

But many say they will never leave the enclave because they fear permanent refuge, such as "Nakba", or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of people were expelled from their homes in the war at the birth of the Israeli state in 1948.

Many of them were expelled or fled to Gaza, the West Bank and neighboring Arab countries including Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, where their descendants still live in refugee camps. Israel denies the statement that they were forced out.

Katz said countries opposing Israeli military operations in Gaza should accept Palestinians.

Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and other countries, which make false accusations and claims against Israel for their actions in Gaza, are legally obliged to allow Gazans to enter their territory, he said.

Their efficacy will be revealed if they refuse to do so. There are countries like Canada, which have structured immigration programs, which have previously expressed its willingness to accept Gazans, "said the Israeli Defense Minister.

His remarks immediately drew criticism from the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.

"The realm of Gazans is Gaza and Gaza should be part of the Palestinian state in the future," Albares said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE.

Katz accused Hamas of holding Palestinians hostage in Gaza, preventing them from leaving and extorting money from them through a humanitarian aid system.

Trump's unexpected announcement, which has sparked outrage in the Middle East, comes as Israel and Hamas are expected to start talks on a second round of fragile ceasefire plans to end nearly 16 months of fighting in Gaza.