Katz admits Israel still working to expel Palestinians
File photo: REUTERS
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted on Wednesday during a summit organized by the Israeli publication Ynet that Israel continues its active efforts to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
Katz revealed that US President Donald Trump merely suspended a highly controversial initiative that human rights advocates brand as ethnic cleansing.
The defense chief declared the depopulation of the enclave as the ultimate path forward - a strategy that some members of the Israeli administration softly describe as voluntary “immigration” or “migration”.
According to the Times of Israel, Katz said, “In the end, there is no real solution for Gaza without this migration.” For almost three years, advocates for Palestinian rights have asserted that Israel designed its devastating military campaign in the enclave specifically to achieve the ethnic cleansing of the land.
Far-right Israeli politicians have openly demanded the total depopulation of Gaza. Early in his term, Trump endorsed this strategy, suggesting that the United States would seize and possess the strip once they cleared out the Palestinian population.
This aggressive proposal triggered immense fury across Middle Eastern nations, including key US allies. Following the backlash, Trump backed a ceasefire agreement that guaranteed the right of Palestinians to stay on their ancestral soil.
The 12-point accord explicitly declares, “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.”
Despite the implementation of this ceasefire in October 2025, Israeli military continues to choke off humanitarian aid, block rebuilding efforts, and launch near-daily assaults against the local population.
Katz announced that the Israeli government stands prepared to capture Gaza using maritime forces, aerial power, or any other method available. Meanwhile, neighboring Egypt firmly rejects the entry of displaced refugees across its border.
He pointed out that while other potential host countries require diplomatic backing from the United States to take in refugees, Washington has not abandoned the displacement scheme. Katz remarked, “At the moment, Trump has not canceled it; he has frozen it,”. He confirmed that officials are keeping the displacement plan on the table, noting that it is “being discussed all the time.”
He claimed, “I think that ultimately there is no other solution, for everyone’s benefit. But for that to happen, we need the United States, and the moment will come.”
Over the last three years, US has funneled around $25 billion in military assistance to Israel and shielded the Israeli administration in global arenas, even slapping sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators looking into war crimes in Gaza.
In July, Trump publicized a deal to disarm Hamas, which proposed a complete pullout of Israeli troops and a permanent end to military operations in the enclave. However, Israel immediately shot down the proposal, asserting that they will yield no ground until they achieve the total demilitarization of the strip.
Reacting sharply to the defense minister’s admission, US Senator Chris Van Hollen recalled how he and fellow Democratic lawmaker Jeff Merkley had sounded alarms about Israel’s intentions to ethnically cleanse the enclave following their tour of the Rafah border last year.
Van Hollen wrote in an online post, “Now the Israeli [Minister] of Defense confirmed that’s the goal,” and demanded, “We must end our complicity.”
Source: Al Jazeera (adapted)
