JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel would let Palestinians leave the Gaza Strip, as the military prepares a broader offensive in the territory.
Past calls to resettle Gazans outside of the war-battered territory, including from US President Donald Trump, have sparked concern among Palestinians and condemnation from the international community.
In an interview with Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS, as the military prepares a broader offensive in Gaza, Netanyahu said “we are not pushing them out, but we are allowing them to leave”.
“Give them the opportunity to leave, first of all, combat zones, and generally to leave the territory, if they want,” he said, citing refugee outflows during wars in Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan.
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In the Gaza Strip, Israel for years has tightly controlled the borders and barred many from leaving.
“We will allow this, first of all, within Gaza during the fighting, and we will certainly allow them to leave Gaza as well,” Netanyahu said.
For Palestinians, any effort to push them force them off their land would recall the “Nakba”, or catastrophe – the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948.
Earlier this year, Trump stirred controversy by openly suggesting that the United States should take control of Gaza and expel its 2.4 million inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan.
Netanyahu also previously said his government was working to find third countries to take in Gaza’s population, following Trump’s suggestion they be expelled and the territory redeveloped as a holiday destination.
Far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition have called for the “voluntary” departure of Gaza’s Palestinians.
Last week, Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to expand the war into the remaining parts of Gaza not yet controlled by the military.
The vast majority of Gaza’s people have been displaced at least once during the war, triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
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