A school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees houses displaced Palestinians west of Gaza City. (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
JERUSALEM — Israel will open an office under its Defense Ministry to manage the mass displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to other countries, far-right lawmakers said Sunday, as they pitched their mounting effort to depopulate the territory as being closely aligned with President Donald Trump’s own vision to “clean out” and redevelop the enclave.
The formation of the new office, which was not immediately confirmed by the Defense Ministry, would represent a tangible step toward implementing the highly controversial proposal voiced in February by Trump — and cheered on by Israel’s right-wing — to remove Gazans, after 15 months of war and intense Israeli bombardment that have left the tiny territory in ruins.
At a public hearing on Sunday in Israel’s Knesset, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the new “Emigration Authority” would be co-led by the Defense Ministry and the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It would receive enough funding to carry out what he envisions as a “massive logistical operation” to find destination countries that will accept and employ Palestinians from Gaza, he said.
More than 2 million people currently live inside the Strip. Smotrich, who visited Washington last week, said he spoke to U.S. officials who backed the plan.
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“Various officials in the [Trump] administration told me again and again, ‘We will not allow 2 million Nazis to live just beyond the fence,’” he said, referring to Palestinians. “Not too long ago, it was taboo to speak about people leaving Gaza, but now the people who were crazy are the most realistic,” Smotrich added. “Not only is it realistic, but it’s the only plan that’s realistic.”
The proposal, which would require the forced transfer of at least some of the population, has been likened to ethnic cleansing and has received heavy criticism from Arab countries. Last week, Arab leaders unveiled a competing plan for Gaza’s reconstruction — one that does not include the displacement of Palestinian civilians.
But right-wing Israeli lawmakers and experts who support the plan to remove Palestinians said at Sunday’s hearing that emigration from Gaza would be voluntary and that polls indicate most Gazans would choose to leave the territory if they could. When asked if Palestinians would be allowed to eventually return to Gaza, or if Jewish settlement would be allowed after the population leaves, some demurred.
Simcha Rothman, a lawmaker from the Religious Zionism party led by Smotrich, told reporters that the Arab counterproposal unveiled last week in Cairo is unacceptable to Israel because it would leave Hamas, the militant group that ruled Gaza, in place. The idea from Trump and Israelis to relocate Gaza’s residents abroad is realistic, Rothman argued, because they need jobs and many aging countries around the world need to import young laborers.
The Religious Zionism party, whose supporters often view Gaza as part of the land given to Jews by God and its settlement as a religious duty, has wielded significant influence within Netanyahu’s coalition government and has been one of the major voices calling for a resumption of war against Hamas.
The militant group that governs Gaza led a violent attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting more than 250 others. Israel responded with a punishing military operation that destroyed the enclave, displaced the majority of the population and killed more than 48,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
On Sunday, Israel also announced that it would cut its supply of electricity to Gaza, about a week after a 42-day ceasefire expired March 1. Israel has provided almost no electricity to Gaza since the start of the war, but the largely symbolic announcement was applauded by the far right, which has argued for the near-total elimination of humanitarian aid, fuel and power supplies to ramp up pressure on Hamas and Palestinian civilians.
Several right-wing lawmakers said Sunday that the Gaza war presented a rare opportunity that must be seized by Israel.
“Things that seemed impossible for many years are now completely legitimate topics for policy initiatives,” said Yuli Edelstein, a Knesset member and the chair of the “Land of Israel” caucus, who has called for the annexation of Palestinian territory by Israel.
“We must not squander the opportunity to take the right steps toward the new Middle East we are discussing,” Edelstein said.
Alon Rom in Tel Aviv contributed reporting.