Skip to main content
Israel begins ‘preparations’ for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza
A man walks between tents for displaced Palestinians next to destroyed buildings following the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, February 6, 2025

ISRAEL publicly began “preparations” for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza today despite international rejection of US President Donald Trump’s proposal to empty the territory of its population. 

Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes warning any such action would put its peace deal with Israel at risk, officials said.

The Trump administration has already dialled back aspects of the suggestion given its frosty international reception, saying any relocation of the region’s 2.3 million people would be temporary. 

US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan could be imposed on Palestinians.

In a social media post, President Trump said today that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the war and no US soldiers would be needed for his plan to redevelop it.

The Palestinians have strongly rejected Mr Trump’s proposal, which amounts to ethnic cleansing. 

Egypt has warned that an expulsion would destabilise the region and undermine its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of stability and US influence for decades.

Saudi Arabia, another key US ally, has also rejected any mass transfer of Palestinians and says it will not normalise relations with Israel — a key goal of the Trump administration — without the creation of a Palestinian state that includes Gaza.

President Trump and Israeli officials have depicted the proposed relocation from war-ravaged Gaza as voluntary, but Palestinians have universally expressed their determination to remain in their homeland.

Mr Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if Palestinians refuse to leave.

But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the plan meets the definition of ethnic cleansing, the forcible relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he has ordered the military to make preparations to facilitate the emigration of large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza through land crossings as well as “special arrangements for exit by sea and air.”

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has not publicly responded to Mr Trump’s proposal but sources said on Wednesday that Cairo has made clear to the US and Israel that it will resist any such proposal and that its peace deal with Israel is at risk.

Hamas, which still rules most of Gaza, has repeatedly condemned President Trump’s proposal. 

On Thursday Hamas said that any US takeover of Gaza would be considered an occupation and resisted. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, June 1, 2025
Middle East / 1 June 2025
1 June 2025

Israeli military accused of killing at least 40 Palestinians near aid distribution site in Rafah

Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, May 23, 2025
Middle East / 29 May 2025
29 May 2025

Despite internal pressure over the Gaza genocide, Narendra Modi’s government has deepened relations with Tel Aviv. ROGER McKENZIE explores the geopolitics behind these strengthening links

Similar stories
A young Palestinian kid carries jerricans along the destruct
World / 5 February 2025
5 February 2025
Campaigners condemn Trump's ‘grotesque’ plans to ‘relocate’ the Palestinians in Gaza and call on British government to ‘defend international law’
Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern
World / 27 January 2025
27 January 2025
Gazans head home as Trump slammed for 'ethnic cleansing'