Israel Katz says \u2018there is no real solution for Gaza\u2019 without de-populating the territory.<\/p>\n
Israel is still working to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has admitted, saying that US President Donald Trump<\/a> has only frozen a plan that rights advocates say amounts to ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n Speaking at a conference organised by Israeli publication Ynet on Wednesday, Katz said de-populating Gaza \u2013 which some Israeli officials euphemistically describe as voluntary \u201cimmigration\u201d or \u201cmigration\u201d of Palestinians \u2013 remains the \u201conly solution\u201d.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end, there is no real solution for Gaza without this migration,\u201d Katz said, according to the Times of Israel.<\/p>\n Palestinian rights advocates have argued for nearly three years that the ultimate goal of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza is to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n Some far-right Israeli officials have previously openly called for depopulating Gaza, and Trump backed the idea<\/a> early in his presidency, saying that the United States would take over the enclave and \u201cown\u201d the territory once Palestinians are removed.<\/p>\n The proposal was met with outrage from Middle Eastern countries, including governments allied with Washington.<\/p>\n Trump subsequently sponsored a \u201cceasefire\u201d deal that explicitly asserted Palestinians\u2019 right to remain in their land.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return,\u201d the 12-point agreement says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the ceasefire came into effect<\/a> in October 2025, Israel has continued to restrict aid to Gaza, and it has prevented reconstruction in the territory while carrying out near daily attacks against Palestinians.<\/p>\n Katz said the Israeli government is prepared to take Gaza \u201cby sea, by air and by any means to do it\u201d. But Egypt \u2013 which borders the Palestinian territory \u2013 is refusing to take in Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n He added that other countries that may accept displaced Palestinians require US support but emphasised that Washington has not dropped the proposal altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment, Trump has not canceled it; he has frozen it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Katz said the ethnic cleansing plan is \u201cbeing discussed all the time\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that ultimately there is no other solution, for everyone\u2019s benefit. But for that to happen, we need the United States, and the moment will come,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Over the past three years, the US has given Israel about $25bn in military aid<\/a> and defended the Israeli government at international forums, including by imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials investigating the atrocities in Gaza.<\/p>\n In July, Trump announced an agreement to disarm Hamas as part of a US-backed process that would include an Israeli withdrawal and an end to the deadly attacks on the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n