Politics Israel wants to create an authority for Palestinians to leave the country
Israel is setting up a new authority for the "voluntary" departure of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
24.03.2025, 02:01
SDA
This is to be subordinate to the Ministry of Defense and "prepare the voluntary departure of Gaza Strip residents to third countries in a safe and controlled manner", Israeli media quoted from a statement by the office of Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The statement went on to say that people wishing to leave the sealed-off coastal strip should be allowed to do so "in compliance with Israeli and international law and in accordance with the vision of US President Donald Trump". According to reports, the Israeli security cabinet had previously approved a corresponding proposal by Katz. The third countries in question were not mentioned.
Peace movement: People do not leave "voluntarily"
The Israeli peace movement Peace Now condemned the creation of the new exit authority on Platform X as an "indelible stain" on Israel. "When life in a particular place is made impossible by bombardment and siege, it is not "voluntary" for people to leave," it continued.
Proposal goes back to US President Trump
Katz had already instructed the army to draw up a corresponding plan at the beginning of February after US President Trump proposed relocating two million Palestinians from the coastal strip. The US President had announced in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US would "take over" the Gaza Strip and turn it into an economically flourishing "Riviera of the Middle East". According to Trump, the inhabitants of the area are to be accommodated in other Arab states in the region.
According to Egyptian media, the government in Cairo recently rejected reports that it was prepared to temporarily take in half a million people from the Gaza Strip.
