From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Smotrich says government setting up ‘migration administration’ to oversee exodus of Gazans
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, is working to establish a “migration administration” that will oversee the exodus of Palestinian residents from the Gaza Strip.
Addressing the Knesset Land of Israel Caucus, Smotrich says that the issue of the budget for such an undertaking “will not be an obstacle” to the task, which he calls logistically “complex.”
According to the Ynet news site, Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock, a member of Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism party, says that the removal of the security threat from Gaza cannot be achieved “except through a voluntary migration plan.”
In an interview with “Meet the Press” on Channel 12 last month, Smotrich claimed that Israel was actively in touch with Washington to discuss the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s plan to move residents of the Gaza Strip abroad.
“The process of emigration from Gaza will begin in the coming weeks,” Smotrich stated. “Gazans will have nothing to look for in Gaza in the next 10-15 years. After we return to fighting and all of Gaza looks like Jabalia — they will have nothing to look for there at all.”
In a joint appearance with Prime Minister Netanyahu during his recent state visit, Trump called for permanently relocating the entire population of the Gaza Strip, insisting the Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza after over 15 months of Israeli bombardment targeting Hamas.
Afterward, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare a plan that would enable Gazans seeking to leave the Strip voluntarily to do so.
In January, Smotrich said that he was working to turn Trump’s ideas about Gaza into an actionable policy. He has previously stated that Israel should occupy Gaza and “encourage” half of the Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinians to emigrate within two years.
The Times of Israel Community.