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Israel orders its military to prepare plan for Palestinians to voluntarily leave Gaza [1]
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Date: 2025-02-06 11:03:07.353000+00:00
Israel's defense minister said Thursday that he had instructed his military to prepare a plan to allow Palestinians to voluntarily leave the Gaza Strip, after his country's leadership embraced President Donald Trump's widely condemned remarks in which he said the United States may seek ownership of the territory.
Welcoming what he called Trump's "bold initiative," Israel Katz said in a statement Thursday that Palestinians in Gaza "should be granted the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is customary everywhere in the world." He said the plan would include "exit options" for Palestinians to leave Gaza via land crossings, with the possibility of "special arrangements" for departures by sea and air.
Katz's comments came after Trump on Tuesday suggested to the press and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. should take a "long-term ownership position" of Gaza and "develop" the enclave, which he had earlier in the day referred to as a "demolition site."
Trump made contradictory comments on whether he foresaw Palestinians being able to live in the enclave, with White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday seeking to clarify his statements.
The president is "committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating" Palestinians during those reconstruction efforts, she said, adding that Trump has not committed to sending U.S. troops to Gaza as part of the effort.
Trump's remarks were widely rejected for their apparent dismissal of Palestinians' long pursuit of internationally recognized statehood. The Human rights organization Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the plan amounted to an "intent to escalate ethnic cleansing in Gaza."
Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Netanyahu praised Trump's remarks, adding that “the actual idea of allowing first Gazans who want to leave, to leave, what’s wrong with that?”
Katz's plan would represent a major policy shift for Israel, which — along with Egypt — has maintained a land, air and sea blockade on the enclave since 2007, when Hamas took power two years after Israel withdrew from the territory following 38 years of occupation.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-gaza-voluntarily-katz-trump-netanyahu-palestinians-hamas-egypt-rcna190940
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