In their words: Israeli leaders support the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza
U.S. President Donald Trump has said little about his idea of relocating many of the Gaza Strip's two million Palestinians to other countries since he stunned the world by announcing it in February.
But Israel's leaders have run with it, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at one point listed it as a condition for ending the 22-month war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
He and other Israeli officials present it as a humanitarian measure allowing Palestinians to flee war and hardship, and say it should be voluntary. Israel has been in talks with African countries — many of which are themselves wracked by war and at risk of famine — about taking Palestinians in.
Palestinians say there would be nothing voluntary about leaving part of their homeland with no guarantee of return after an occupying power has rendered much of it uninhabitable. Rights groups and much of the international community say it would amount to forcible expulsion in violation of international law.
The issue is likely to take on greater urgency as Israel widens its military campaign to the last parts of Gaza that it hasn't taken over and largely flattened, and as large numbers of Palestinians flee once again.
'This is our land, there is no other place for us to go,' said Ismail Zaydah, whose family has remained in Gaza City throughout the war, even after much of their neighborhood and part of their home was destroyed. 'We are not surrendering,' he said. 'We were born here, and here we die.'
Here's what Israel's leaders have said, in their own words.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a Feb. 6 post on X
'I have instructed the (Israeli military) to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them. ... The plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.'
Netanyahu, addressing a Cabinet meeting on March 30
'Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration. This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time.'
Netanyahu, in a public address May 21
Israel will create 'a sterile zone in the southern Strip to which the civilian population will be evacuated from the combat areas, for the purpose of defending it. In this zone, which will be Hamas-free, the residents of Gaza will receive full humanitarian assistance.'
'I am ready to end the war — according to clear conditions that will ensure the security of Israel. All of the hostages will return home. Hamas will lay down its weapons, leave power, its leadership, whoever is left, will be exiled from the Strip, Gaza will be completely demilitarized, and we will carry out the Trump plan, which is so correct and so revolutionary, and it says something simple: The residents of Gaza who wish to leave — will be able to leave.'
Netanyahu, in an interview with Israeli media on Aug. 12
'I think that the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in with all your might against the enemy who remains there.'
'Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want. We will allow this, first of all inside Gaza during the fighting, and we will also allow them to leave Gaza. We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave.'
Joseph Krauss, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
34 minutes ago
- CTV News
Syria commission says more than 300,000 may have gone missing since 1970s
A man passes by at a neighbourhood destroyed during the civil war, at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, outside Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) DAMASCUS, Syria — The head of Syria's commission for missing persons said Monday the number of people who went missing during decades of Assad family rule and the civil war may have exceeded 300,000. Mohammed Reda Jalkhi, head of the commission created in May, said the body's mandate ranged from 1970, the year Hafez al-Assad took power, to the present day and had no timeframe for completing its work. 'Our estimates of the number of missing range between 120,000 and 300,000 people, and it could be more,' he told state news agency SANA. Tens of thousands of people were detained or disappeared during the Syrian civil war alone, which erupted in 2011 after a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests by former president Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December. During the war, all sides were accused of atrocities including the Islamic State jihadist group, which seized large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law and committing widespread abuses including executions. Bashar al-Assad ruled with an iron fist, like his predecessor, his father Hafez, who took power in a bloodless military coup. The family's rule was among the most brutal in the region and its prison system, including feared sites such as Saydnaya, was notorious for disappearing people without a trace. 'We have a map that includes more than 63 documented mass graves in Syria,' he said, without providing details on where they were located, who dug them or who was thought to be buried there. He said work was underway to establish a data bank for missing persons. Syria's new authorities have pledged justice for victims of atrocities committed under Assad's rule. In January, the president of the International Committee for the Red Cross said determining the fate of those who went missing during the war would be a massive task likely to take years. Jalkhi said his commission's work was 'essential to the process of transitional justice and civil peace,' calling the issue of missing persons 'one of the most complicated and painful in Syria'.
Globe and Mail
44 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
State Democrats return to Texas, ending walkout that stymied vote to redraw congressional map
Democratic lawmakers in Texas returned to the state on Monday, ending a two-week walkout that broke quorum and temporarily blocked Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump. Texas House of Representatives Minority Leader Gene Wu, chairperson of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement that Democrats returned because they had achieved their two main goals. The first was to block a vote on new congressional maps in a first special legislative session that ended Friday. The second goal was to prompt California and other Democratic-led states to consider redrawing their own maps to offset any seats Republicans might gain in Texas. 'We're returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans' plans than when we left,' Wu said. 'Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country.' Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, a Republican, gaveled in the session at 12 p.m. local time on Monday, with enough Democrats present to have a quorum. 'We are done waiting. We have a quorum. Now is the time for action,' Burrows said on opening the session. Burrows said that the Democrats who had left the state but whom were present on Monday would only be allowed to leave the House chambers if they agreed to be released into the custody of an agent from the Texas Department of Public Safety, who would ensure they are present at House sessions going forward. To counter Texas, California moves ahead with plan to redraw congressional map Analysis: America's many issues coming into sharp focus in California More than 50 Texas House Democrats left the state on August 3 and most headed to Illinois, aiming to deny Republicans enough lawmakers in attendance to hold a vote on redistricting legislation – a tactic used several times in the past, mostly without success. Republican leaders in Texas issued civil arrest warrants for the Democrats, which could only be acted on within the borders of the state, and sought their extradition from Illinois, which a judge in that state rejected. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday called a second special legislation session in another attempt to rework the state's congressional maps in an effort to give Republicans another five seats in Congress. With Republicans dominating the Texas House and Senate, quick passage of the new maps is almost certain. Abbott didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the Democrats' return. Trump believes redistricting would help maintain Republicans' slim control of Congress in midterm elections next year. But Democrats are threatening retaliation, launching what could build into an all-out national redistricting war across several states. Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic Governor, on Thursday unveiled his own redistricting plan that he said would give Democrats there five more congressional seats. Legislation that would allow California voters to approve new maps is expected to be introduced on Monday.
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Texas Democrats end walkout over redistricting as California prepares to retaliate
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats ended a two-week walkout Monday that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts as part of a national partisan brawl over President Donald Trump's desire to reshape U.S. House maps to his advantage. Their return to the Texas Capitol will allow the Republican-run Legislature to proceed as California Democrats separately advance a countereffort to redraw their congressional boundaries in retaliation. The tit-for-tat puts the nation's two most populous states at the center of an expanding fight over control of Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The battle also has rallied Democrats nationally after infighting and frustrations among the party's own voters since Republicans took control of the White House and Capitol Hill in January.
