On November 25, 2025, Wissam Yassin, 50, left the Gaza Strip with her two daughters through the Kerem Shalom crossing, as part of an evacuation organized by the French Embassy. It came after several attempts by Yassin, who works for the U.S.-funded Alhurra television channel, and her ex-husband, who works for Radio France, to secure a way out for their two daughters.<\/p>\n
Yassin and her family were instructed to go to a UNICEF facility, after which the French Embassy took responsibility for their departure. They left via the Rafah Crossing, traveled through Kerem Shalom, reached Jordan, and were flown directly to France.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt as though I had been uprooted from my place and taken somewhere else,\u201d Yassin, who cared for her children on her own throughout at least five displacements, said. \u201cI wished I could stay in Gaza, but at the same time, I wanted a future and a dignified life for my children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yassin\u2019s family is one of thousands of families forced to leave Gaza since October 2023 \u2013 through embassy evacuations, academic fellowships, and World Health Organization (WHO) medical corridors. These are the only channels through which departure is currently possible, and they move slowly and selectively. The people who leave do so while fully aware that they may not be able to return, but they\u2019re also aware that Israeli officials have openly stated, at the highest levels of government, that emptying Gaza of its Palestinian population is an explicit policy and ultimate goal.<\/p>\n
The displacement plan<\/p>\n
Israeli statements calling for the removal of Gaza\u2019s population have not been hidden. Since the beginning of the war, Israeli officials have repeatedly and publicly made them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first major step toward displacement came in October 2023<\/a>, when more than 1.1 million Palestinians were pushed from northern Gaza toward the south<\/a>, a move widely described as a possible prelude to forcibly removing the population through the Rafah crossing. Egyptian opposition to Israeli and U.S. pressures to take in the displaced population prevented it and kept the population inside Gaza.<\/p>\n On September 2, 2026, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said<\/a> \u00a0there was \u201cno real solution for Gaza\u201d without such forced migration, and that \u201cIsrael would facilitate Palestinian migration from Gaza to other places by sea, air, and every possible means.\u201d<\/p>\n The following day, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir revealed a national action plan<\/a> for what he called the \u201cvoluntary migration\u201d of Palestinians of Gaza, targeting 1.8 million residents over seven years, with around 250,000 people to be removed in the first year.\u00a0<\/p>\n On September 16, Katz said it\u2019s only a matter of time before Israel resumes war on Gaza and encourages its people to evacuate the Strip.<\/p>\n In March 2025, Israeli media reported the establishment of the Voluntary Emigration Administration, within its Ministry of Defense, dedicated to working out destinations to send the people of Gaza to, in collaboration with its allies.<\/p>\n It is against this backdrop that Palestinians weighing whether to leave must make their decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018They kill the idea of steadfastness itself\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Palestinian writer and academic Yousri Al-Ghoul, 46, spent the entire duration of the war in northern Gaza \u2013 a region that has been deliberately cut off from the rest of the Strip, subjected to prolonged siege and starvation, and endured some of the most relentless bombardment of the entire genocide, with entire neighborhoods razed and its population reduced to a fraction of what it was before October 2023. Through it all, the father of six was active on social media<\/a>, calling on people to remain steadfast and stay in the Strip.<\/p>\n On December 15, 2025, he and his family were evacuated to Switzerland through an academic fellowship with a university in Lausanne. While in northern Gaza, Al-Ghoul had lived with the fear of being assassinated, as Israeli forces have persistently targeted writers, intellectuals, and prominent figures in Gaza throughout the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n After avenues for survival in Gaza had been exhausted, Al-Ghoul contacted friends in European countries and asked for help evacuating his family of six to ensure their safety.<\/p>\n According to Al-Ghoul, there are three main channels through which people can currently leave Gaza: family reunification for Palestinians with European citizenship or residency who can apply to bring family members stranded in the Strip; WHO medical evacuations for patients and their families; and academic fellowships for students or academics.<\/p>\n Beyond these options, al-Ghoul says, there are no other ways to leave Gaza.<\/p>\n Al-Ghoul is candid about what his own departure, as an influencer with significant followship, means in the context of Israel\u2019s broader objectives. \u201cIsrael was also interested in removing people it considered wanted; its objective was not limited to killing people but was part of a deeper strategic goal of emptying Gaza of its Palestinian population.\u201d<\/p>\n He frames his own case with particular clarity.\u00a0\u201cWhen Yousri Al-Ghoul leaves Gaza \u2014 the man who had called for steadfastness since the beginning of the war and urged the people of northern Gaza to remain in the north and not leave \u2014 the objective achieved by the occupation through his departure is greater than killing him,\u201d he explained. \u201cBy forcing me to leave, they kill the idea of steadfastness itself.\u201d<\/p>\n