Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz insists that the plan for Gaza is ethnic cleansing through forced migration disguised as voluntary

The Benjamin Netanyahu Government's plan for Gaza continues to be ethnic cleansing, although it has not yet been able to carry it out, according to its Defense Minister, Israel Katz. He said this on Wednesday at a conference, in which he noted that “there is no real solution for Gaza without this migration.” The minister used the euphemism—voluntary migration—with which politicians in Israel have been referring for years to the expulsion of Palestinians. Despite having been relegated in the public debate, the proposal "is constantly debated", with the Executive "organized and prepared to remove them, by sea, by air, by any possible means."

"I believe that ultimately there is no other solution for the good of all. But for that to happen, we need the United States, and that time will come," said Katz, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's same party, Likud, and one of the most notable supporters of emptying Gaza of Palestinians.

Every few months, the minister reiterates his support for his idea. She did it especially at the beginning of 2025, when Trump publicly sponsored her, filling the Israeli far right with hope that had dreamed of her for a long time. The minister even put a port and an airport at the disposal of the plan. A dark plot organized flights abroad to remove Gazans.

Israel then moved to convince its weaker allies to host as many Gazans as possible, while Trump even threatened Jordan and Egypt. The reality, however, as Katz admitted at the conference, is that “there is no country in the world that welcomes them.”

individual freedom

Having turned the Strip into a devastated and unlivable place, Israel's goal is to empty it as much as possible of Palestinians, encouraging them to leave (and presenting it as voluntary acts of individual freedom) without guarantees that they will be allowed to return in the future. A part of the Executive also wants to rebuild the Jewish settlements there that were dismantled two decades ago.

It is something that, at least on paper, categorically prohibits the ceasefire agreement signed in October and promoted by Trump. The text specifies that “no one will be forced to leave Gaza” and that those who decide to do so will have the same freedom to return. People are even encouraged to “stay” to “build a better Gaza.”

This retreat from the White House regarding the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the lack of countries to take the Palestinians to has taken the steam out of the national and global public debate on “voluntary migration,” which a majority of Israeli society supports, according to polls. Hamas, furthermore, remains in control of 40% of Gaza where almost the entire population lives, just over two million people.