Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has sparked fresh international outcry by re-surfacing claims the conflict in Gaza cannot be resolved without the forced relocation of Palestinians.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Israeli news site Ynet and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Katz said Israel’s government was “organised and prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way possible”.
The roadblock, he argued, was the unwillingness of other nations in the region to accept Palestinian migrants, and the solution was United States President Donald Trump.
Forcibly removing a people from their homes without the prospect of return is widely considered a breach of international law and some human rights groups argue Israel has already committed war crimes by displacing the majority of Palestinians living in Gaza.
What is Israel’s plan for Gaza?
Hard-right Israeli political factions have long called for the forced removal of Palestinians from Gaza as part of a broader effort to incorporate the territory into Israel.
Members of Israel’s government escalated those calls in the wake of Hamas’ 7 October attacks in 2023 and throughout subsequent Israeli operations in the strip.
Under the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, Israel was left in control of just over half of the territory, but it has since expanded its hold to around 60 per cent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested Israel could seek to control as much as 70 per cent of Gaza.
Israel argues the enduring presence of Hamas poses an unacceptable risk to its security and that it must, therefore, maintain a military presence in the territory.
While the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, both envisage reconstruction efforts and the eventual handover of the strip to a Palestinian civilian government, Israeli officials have repeatedly cast doubt on the plans.
Israel’s military has also constructed security outposts and limited earthworks along what it describes as a “buffer zone” between Gaza and the Israeli border, both of which could complicate efforts to rebuild Palestinian communities.
Does Trump support relocating Palestinians?
In February 2025, Trump appeared to offer his support by proposing to completely relocate Gaza’s 2.3 million population to surrounding Arab nations – principally Egypt and Jordan.
However, the announcement sparked immediate pushback and was apparently abandoned in October when the President instead suggested the US would “encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza”.
Katz, though, claimed Trump never walked away from the plan, but instead suggested it was “frozen” in the face of opposition from neighbouring Arab states.
Trump has previously suggested completely relocating Gaza’s 2.3 million population to surrounding Arab nations (Photo: AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta)“The plan hasn’t been canceled. It is being discussed all the time, even now, and I think there is no other solution for everyone’s good,” Israel’s Defence Minister said.
The White House has not yet commented on the claim, nor has Trump’s Board of Peace, which was established to oversee the transfer of power in Gaza away from Hamas and rebuild the strip.
Asked when Israel could seek to begin removing Palestinians from Gaza, Katz suggested the timeline was dependent on Trump voicing support.
Would Trump be sanctioning a war crime?
Should Trump give his backing to Israel’s plans, he is likely to face accusations of supporting war crimes.
Under the Geneva Convention it is against the rules of engagement in armed international conflicts to deport civilians in occupied territory “unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand”.
Additionally, participants in armed non-international conflicts are prohibited from ordering the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, barring the previous exception.
Some groups, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), argue Israel is already in breach of those rules as it has issued widespread evacuation notices across Gaza and provided residents limited or no prospect of return.
HRW has published a number of reports claiming Israeli officials failed to consider other methods of achieving military objectives which would not have required civilian displacement and that the evacuation orders placed those fleeing in harms way.
Israel has repeatedly denied those claims and branded investigations into its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza as politically motivated and tainted by anti-Semitism.
However, the wholesale and permanent removal of Gaza’s civilian population would be a step beyond internal displacement, and the manner in which Israel would go about achieving that aim would draw immense international scrutiny.
While Israel may argue the ongoing ceasefire dictates such a move cannot constitute a war crime as it is no longer at war, any attempt to follow through on the plan would almost certainly be criticised as a breach of international law.
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