Netanyahu asserts Israel not seeking to displace Gazans, but allow them to leave if they want

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Israel is not seeking to forcibly displace Palestinians, rather simply wants to offer those interested in leaving the opportunity to do so.

“We’re not pushing out anyone, and I don’t think that’s President Trump’s suggestion,” Netanyahu says in response to a question from a reporter at the Capitol ahead of his meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

When Trump introduced his plan to take over Gaza for the first time in February, though, he talked about permanently relocating the entire population.

He has since distanced himself from such rhetoric and rarely speaks publicly of the plan while Israel has latched onto it, framing it as an effort to “encourage the voluntary migration” of Gazans.

However, Netanyahu has reportedly told Likud lawmakers that Israel is destroying every building in Gaza so that Palestinians have nowhere to go other than outside the Strip.

“It’s called the freedom of choice, and nothing more than that. No coercion, no forcible dislocation. If people want to leave Gaza, they should have the right to do so and not be held at the point of a gun by Hamas,” Netanyahu says.