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Akbar Novruz

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Israel has plans in place to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip but is waiting for the United States to determine where they could be relocated, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday.

“There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration,” Katz said at a conference hosted by Israeli news site Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth.

Katz said the Israeli government was prepared to facilitate the departure of Palestinians from the territory through multiple means.

“The Israeli government is organised and prepared to get them out – by sea, by air, by every way possible,” he said.

The US embassy referred requests for comment to the State Department in Washington.

Katz’s remarks come after US President Donald Trump proposed during the early months of his second term that Palestinians should leave Gaza, suggesting that the territory could subsequently be redeveloped as a major Mediterranean destination.

Trump’s proposal triggered widespread international opposition, including from Egypt, which shares Gaza’s only other border. The idea was also rejected by Palestinian officials and much of the Arab world.

For Palestinians, any forced or large-scale displacement from Gaza carries strong historical significance because of the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war surrounding the establishment of Israel.

The issue of Palestinian displacement has remained one of the most contentious aspects of the Gaza conflict, with Palestinian and Arab officials repeatedly warning against any attempt to permanently remove the territory’s population.

Katz’s comments come as Israel continues to face international pressure over its military campaign in Gaza, which began following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.