Israel seeks Trump support for Gaza expulsion plan amid war crime concerns

Israel’s defence minister has said his country is seeking Donald Trump’s support to approve plans to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in what has widely been condemned as a potential war crime.

Israel Katz said there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration” during a conference hosted by the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. He said the Israeli government was “organised and prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way possible”.

Trump discussed a US takeover of the Gaza Strip in early 2025 that would have involved removing Palestinians from the territory, but has since pulled back from the idea. A 20-point peace plan the White House drew up last year did not call for Palestinians’ deportation, an act that would be widely seen as ethnic cleansing.

Katz, however, said on Wednesday that he believed US support could tip regional opinion in favour of the forced resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza. He said Trump’s approval was crucial to convince neighbouring countries to accept Palestinian refugees.

“Every country that is willing to take them in wants American backing,” he said. “Trump has not cancelled this at the moment. He has frozen it.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request from the Guardian for comment on whether Trump was continuing to hold discussions on Israel’s proposals to forcibly depopulate the Gaza Strip.

Katz pointed in particular to Egypt, which he said had lobbied Washington to oppose the forced removal of the Palestinian population. “It has not been cancelled,” he said. “It is being discussed all the time, including now, and I think there is no other solution in the end that is in everyone’s interest.”

The remarks come during a competitive election season in Israel in which the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his rightwing allies have appealed to voters by calling for more aggressive measures against Palestinians.

Some have been openly inflammatory and cruel. The far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted footage on X from a women’s prison where he said he was responsible for the dire conditions in the facility.

When one prisoner told him they were not receiving medical care, showering or receiving clean clothing, Ben-Gvir said: “The good conditions in the prisons are over. This is the current situation, and I am directly responsible for everything. I am pleased with these conditions.”

Netanyahu visited an Israeli military post close to the yellow line in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Israel has said it would not pull back from that line until Hamas disarmed, despite calls for a phased withdrawal to facilitate a recent ceasefire with the group.

“We control the territory and are staying on this line,” Netanyahu said. “We are doing everything to achieve our goal – disarming Hamas and demilitarising Gaza. Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”