Israel asks army to prepare plan for Palestinian withdrawal from Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he has instructed the military to prepare a plan for the evacuation of a large number of Palestinians from Gaza by land, sea and air. Katz welcomed what he called US President Donald Trump's "bold plan" to evacuate Gazans from the territory devastated by Israeli ground and air strikes targeting Hamas militants.

Palestinian officials have rejected President Trump's plan that suggests the United States would take control of the Gaza Strip and force the displacement of 2 million Palestinians. Mr. Trump said the region along the Mediterranean Sea would become the "Riviera of the Middle East."

President Trump made the comments Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In an interview Wednesday with Fox News, Netanyahu said Palestinians could leave Gaza while it is rebuilt and then return.

" It's an extraordinary idea and I think it should be considered and implemented, because I think it will create a different future for everyone ," he said.

Mr. Trump's proposal has drawn widespread criticism, including from the United Nations. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that any forced displacement "is tantamount to ethnic cleansing." German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday that Mr. Trump's proposals "have caused deep concern in some people, even horror." He said the proposals are unacceptable under international law.

The 22-member Arab League said President Trump's plan "is a recipe for instability" and runs counter to the prospect of a Palestinian state. The United States has long supported a two-state solution that would end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

" They should be allowed to go home ," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.

" They should be allowed to rebuild and we should help them in this direction and on the path towards a two-state solution ," he added.

Australia, China, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Spain said after the US president's proposal that they continued to support a two-state solution. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the United Nations to "protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights". He added that Mr Trump's plan for Gaza would be "a serious violation of international law".

The militant group Hamas also called President Trump's proposal for Gaza a "recipe for chaos and tension in the region."

" Instead of holding the Zionist occupiers accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, they are rewarded and not punished ," Hamas said.

Before President Trump announced plans for the United States to take control of Gaza, Egypt and Jordan had rejected his suggestion, made a few days earlier, that Palestinians in Gaza be relocated to those countries. Egypt's Foreign Ministry issued a statement stressing the need for Gaza's reconstruction "without displacing Palestinians from the region."

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said on Wednesday that expelling the population from the occupied region by Israel would be illegal.

" The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and must be protected by all states, as the International Court of Justice recently emphasized. Any forcible transfer or expulsion of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited ," Mr. Turk said in a statement.

Later, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech that "in seeking solutions, we must not exacerbate the problem". He added that it is "vital to remain faithful to the foundation of international law by avoiding any form of ethnic cleansing". The fighting in Gaza has stopped thanks to a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist by the United States.

The militant group sparked the fighting in the region after a surprise attack on the Jewish state on October 7, 2023, in which the militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. More than 47,500 people have been killed in Israel's counteroffensive, more than half of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. The Israeli military says it has killed 17,000 Hamas militants.

Hamas is believed to be holding about 60 hostages, who are still alive. During the first phase of the ceasefire, the militants released 18 hostages, while Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Many more are expected to be released in the coming weeks. Negotiators are working on details of a second phase of the ceasefire that would end the conflict, during which the remaining hostages would be released and the Israeli military would withdraw from Gaza./VOA