In Call for 'Ethnic Cleansing,' Israeli Minister Says Only ‘Solution’ For Gaza is For Palestinians to Leave
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was “fully prepared” to begin permanently removing Palestinians from Gaza and was just waiting on President Donald Trump to give the OK.
Israel has plans drawn up to carry out US President Donald Trump's proposal to remove most of the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip, according to its defense minister, Israel Katz.
Katz has been a fervent cheerleader for the proposal made by Trump last February to force roughly 2 million Palestinians to leave Gaza and be permanently relocated to other nations with no right to return home, before bulldozing what is left of Gaza after more than two years of relentless destruction by Israel, which has left the vast majority of the population displaced.
While Trump and his Israeli allies used the euphemism "voluntary migration" to describe the plan, United Nations officials, foreign governments, and human rights organizations have said it amounted to a plot for an illegal "ethnic cleansing."
Shortly after the plan was announced, Katz said he’d directed the Israeli military to begin devising a mechanism for the Palestinians' departure. However, forced displacement was ultimately not included in Trump’s 20-point “peace plan” agreed to last October.
During an interview on Wednesday with the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Katz said that Israel was ready to begin removing Palestinians from the territory as soon as Trump gives the order.
"There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration," Katz said.
He claimed that "80% [of Palestinians in Gaza] want to migrate; it’s checked constantly in surveys."
Katz did not cite which "surveys" he was referring to. But one May 2026 survey by Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli body that administers civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, showed that nearly 80% of residents said they wanted additional information about mechanisms for relocating to a third country through Rafah or Kerem Shalom. The reported question did not establish that they wanted to leave permanently.
Other surveys of Gaza's residents conducted by independent pollsters have found that around half, or a majority of the population, want to stay in the territory despite the destruction and deprivation they face.
Katz said the Israeli government was "fully prepared to move [Palestinians] out if it becomes possible—by sea, by air, by every way possible."
"What’s delaying it is that the accepting countries want US support," Katz said. "Every country that is willing wants American backing. Currently, President Trump didn’t cancel this; he froze it. All the Arab countries came to him due to their pressure on this matter."
Katz said "the moment will come" when "it becomes clear that Hamas is not meeting its commitment" to the Phase 2 disarmament-and-withdrawal roadmap agreed to by the Palestinian militant group in July, building on the October 2025 ceasefire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel.
Israel has claimed that the deal required Hamas to totally disarm before Israel withdrew any troops it had advanced past last October's ceasefire line in violation of the agreement. The roadmap Hamas agreed to explicitly stated that Israel's withdrawal would occur at the same time as disarmament.
Then, Katz said, Israel "will get a green light to move forward militarily, territorially, and in other areas, and this thing will gain momentum."
Other figures in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken openly about the desire to force Palestinians out of Gaza and replace them with Jewish Israeli settlers. But Katz's statements on Wednesday were among the most concrete yet to indicate that a solid plan is in the works to carry out this goal.
“This is the Israeli defense minister admitting, completely and brazenly, that the official policy of the Israeli state is ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” said H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in the United Kingdom. “But somehow we are expected to take seriously those who say it is not.”
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Israel has plans drawn up to carry out US President Donald Trump's proposal to remove most of the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip, according to its defense minister, Israel Katz.
Katz has been a fervent cheerleader for the proposal made by Trump last February to force roughly 2 million Palestinians to leave Gaza and be permanently relocated to other nations with no right to return home, before bulldozing what is left of Gaza after more than two years of relentless destruction by Israel, which has left the vast majority of the population displaced.
While Trump and his Israeli allies used the euphemism "voluntary migration" to describe the plan, United Nations officials, foreign governments, and human rights organizations have said it amounted to a plot for an illegal "ethnic cleansing."
Shortly after the plan was announced, Katz said he’d directed the Israeli military to begin devising a mechanism for the Palestinians' departure. However, forced displacement was ultimately not included in Trump’s 20-point “peace plan” agreed to last October.
During an interview on Wednesday with the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Katz said that Israel was ready to begin removing Palestinians from the territory as soon as Trump gives the order.
"There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration," Katz said.
He claimed that "80% [of Palestinians in Gaza] want to migrate; it’s checked constantly in surveys."
Katz did not cite which "surveys" he was referring to. But one May 2026 survey by Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli body that administers civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, showed that nearly 80% of residents said they wanted additional information about mechanisms for relocating to a third country through Rafah or Kerem Shalom. The reported question did not establish that they wanted to leave permanently.
Other surveys of Gaza's residents conducted by independent pollsters have found that around half, or a majority of the population, want to stay in the territory despite the destruction and deprivation they face.
Katz said the Israeli government was "fully prepared to move [Palestinians] out if it becomes possible—by sea, by air, by every way possible."
"What’s delaying it is that the accepting countries want US support," Katz said. "Every country that is willing wants American backing. Currently, President Trump didn’t cancel this; he froze it. All the Arab countries came to him due to their pressure on this matter."
Katz said "the moment will come" when "it becomes clear that Hamas is not meeting its commitment" to the Phase 2 disarmament-and-withdrawal roadmap agreed to by the Palestinian militant group in July, building on the October 2025 ceasefire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel.
Israel has claimed that the deal required Hamas to totally disarm before Israel withdrew any troops it had advanced past last October's ceasefire line in violation of the agreement. The roadmap Hamas agreed to explicitly stated that Israel's withdrawal would occur at the same time as disarmament.
Then, Katz said, Israel "will get a green light to move forward militarily, territorially, and in other areas, and this thing will gain momentum."
Other figures in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken openly about the desire to force Palestinians out of Gaza and replace them with Jewish Israeli settlers. But Katz's statements on Wednesday were among the most concrete yet to indicate that a solid plan is in the works to carry out this goal.
“This is the Israeli defense minister admitting, completely and brazenly, that the official policy of the Israeli state is ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” said H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in the United Kingdom. “But somehow we are expected to take seriously those who say it is not.”
Israel has plans drawn up to carry out US President Donald Trump's proposal to remove most of the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip, according to its defense minister, Israel Katz.
Katz has been a fervent cheerleader for the proposal made by Trump last February to force roughly 2 million Palestinians to leave Gaza and be permanently relocated to other nations with no right to return home, before bulldozing what is left of Gaza after more than two years of relentless destruction by Israel, which has left the vast majority of the population displaced.
While Trump and his Israeli allies used the euphemism "voluntary migration" to describe the plan, United Nations officials, foreign governments, and human rights organizations have said it amounted to a plot for an illegal "ethnic cleansing."
Shortly after the plan was announced, Katz said he’d directed the Israeli military to begin devising a mechanism for the Palestinians' departure. However, forced displacement was ultimately not included in Trump’s 20-point “peace plan” agreed to last October.
During an interview on Wednesday with the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Katz said that Israel was ready to begin removing Palestinians from the territory as soon as Trump gives the order.
"There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration," Katz said.
He claimed that "80% [of Palestinians in Gaza] want to migrate; it’s checked constantly in surveys."
Katz did not cite which "surveys" he was referring to. But one May 2026 survey by Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli body that administers civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, showed that nearly 80% of residents said they wanted additional information about mechanisms for relocating to a third country through Rafah or Kerem Shalom. The reported question did not establish that they wanted to leave permanently.
Other surveys of Gaza's residents conducted by independent pollsters have found that around half, or a majority of the population, want to stay in the territory despite the destruction and deprivation they face.
Katz said the Israeli government was "fully prepared to move [Palestinians] out if it becomes possible—by sea, by air, by every way possible."
"What’s delaying it is that the accepting countries want US support," Katz said. "Every country that is willing wants American backing. Currently, President Trump didn’t cancel this; he froze it. All the Arab countries came to him due to their pressure on this matter."
Katz said "the moment will come" when "it becomes clear that Hamas is not meeting its commitment" to the Phase 2 disarmament-and-withdrawal roadmap agreed to by the Palestinian militant group in July, building on the October 2025 ceasefire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel.
Israel has claimed that the deal required Hamas to totally disarm before Israel withdrew any troops it had advanced past last October's ceasefire line in violation of the agreement. The roadmap Hamas agreed to explicitly stated that Israel's withdrawal would occur at the same time as disarmament.
Then, Katz said, Israel "will get a green light to move forward militarily, territorially, and in other areas, and this thing will gain momentum."
Other figures in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken openly about the desire to force Palestinians out of Gaza and replace them with Jewish Israeli settlers. But Katz's statements on Wednesday were among the most concrete yet to indicate that a solid plan is in the works to carry out this goal.
“This is the Israeli defense minister admitting, completely and brazenly, that the official policy of the Israeli state is ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” said H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in the United Kingdom. “But somehow we are expected to take seriously those who say it is not.”