In unusual statement, Katz threatens to deport members of Gaza protest flotillas, use their boats to allow Palestinians to leave territory

Defense Minister Israel Katz issues a highly unusual statement, threatening to deport members of protest flotillas to the Gaza Strip and use their boats to allow Palestinians to leave the territory.

There were attempts last year for protesters to reach the Gaza Strip by boat and deliver aid there with the approval of Israeli authorities, though there have been no reports of such attempts recently.

“The defense minister instructed the IDF to allow the protest flotillas to reach the Gaza coast, disembark the protesters in Gaza, and seize the ships and transfer them to the port of Ashdod so that they can be used to evacuate Gaza residents who are interested in leaving Gaza,” reads a statement issued by Katz’s office.

“Whoever comes to demonstrate on the shores of Gaza, we will send them into Gaza and use the ships to evacuate Gaza residents who are interested in leaving voluntarily,” Katz says in remarks provided by his office.