PM calls Trump’s Gaza plan ‘remarkable’; Katz tells IDF to prep for voluntary emigration
Netanyahu says Palestinians ‘can relocate and come back,’ stresses he does not expect US to supply troops on the ground or funds to carry out effort
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered an endorsement on Wednesday of US President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans from the Strip while work is carried out to rebuild it, calling the plan “remarkable.”
“This is the first good idea that I’ve heard,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. “It’s a remarkable idea. And I think it should be examined, pursued, and done — because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”
The comments marked Netanyahu’s first full-throated endorsement of the idea that Trump floated on Tuesday during a joint press conference in the White House.
In the wake of Trump’s declaration, Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said he had instructed the military to prepare a plan that would enable Gazans seeking to leave the Strip voluntarily to do so.
Appearing to surprise Netanyahu and shocking much of the world, Trump suggested during his prepared remarks that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out.
“The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative,” Trump said, suggesting they be “permanently” relocated to other nations.
The White House later sought to soften the comments, saying the relocation was meant to be temporary.
Speaking to Hannity a day later, Netanyahu said: “I don’t think [Trump] talked about sending US troops to complete the job of destroying Hamas — that’s our commitment, that’s our job and we’re absolutely committed to it.”
“I also don’t think he said he’s going to fund it. He said that neighboring states, wealthy states, would do it,” Netanyahu added.
“But the actual idea of allowing Gazans who want to leave to leave — I mean, what’s wrong with that?” Netanyahu continued. “They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back.”
Arab allies have long rejected any possible displacement of Gazans from the Strip, refusing throughout the war to take in any significant number of refugees. Egypt and Jordan have in recent days denounced Trump’s suggestion that they absorb Gazans, while Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also called such an idea untenable.
Netanyahu said during his Fox News interview that after 16 months of war in Gaza, “so far, we have decimated most of Hamas’s military — but not all. There is still some left, and we’ll make sure that it’s not there when this war ends. And it could end very quickly.”
The prime minister reiterated his commitment to bringing home all of the hostages being held in Gaza, including those who are no longer alive: “We intend to do that. I won’t talk here [about] how we intend to do it, but it’s something that’s in my mind, it’s also on the president’s mind.”
The entrance of Trump into the White House, said Netanyahu, and his commitment to preventing a nuclear Iran, “elevates the spirit of Israelis, it elevates the spirit of all those who want to see a different Middle East, a prosperous and peaceful Middle East. I think it changes the global equation.”
In a statement Thursday, Katz welcomed Trump’s “courageous plan, which could enable a wide swath of the population in Gaza to leave to various places around the world.”
He said he had ordered the military to prepare a plan by which any resident who wants to can emigrate to any nation willing to take them in. The plan would provide for exits through land crossings, as well as “special arrangements” for departure via maritime and aerial routes, he said.
“Gaza’s residents should be allowed the freedom to exit and emigrate, as is the practice anywhere around the world,” Katz suggested, adding that Trump’s plan could advance “rehabilitation plans in a demilitarized Gaza that poses no threat in the post-Hamas era, which will take many years.”
Taking aim at countries critical of Israel throughout the war, Katz suggested potential destinations such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and other countries that have leveled “false accusations” against Israel, arguing that if those nations refuse to accept Palestinians, “their hypocrisy will be exposed.”
He also mentioned Canada, which has “an organized immigration program” and has “previously voiced a willingness to absorb Gazan residents.”
Far-right Israeli politicians hailed Katz’s announcement, welcoming the possibility of Gazans exiting the Strip for other destinations as an ideal “solution.”
“I congratulate the defense minister on his decision to instruct the IDF to prepare to fulfill our role in the migration plan to allow the departure of Gazans from Gaza to receiving countries,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
“As we have been saying for many years, and even more so since the beginning of the war, there is no other realistic solution that will ensure peace and security for Israel and personal wellbeing for the residents of Gaza.”
Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir called Katz’s instructions an “important step, which recognizes that the real solution for Gaza is no longer dreams of ‘reconstruction’ and a return to the previous situation, but a fundamental change in reality.”
Ben Gvir added that “the possibility of voluntary departure is a necessary step to ensure the security of Israeli citizens and to strengthen Israeli deterrence.” He called on the government “to move forward with determination, remove every bureaucratic obstacle, and ensure that this option becomes a reality as soon as possible.”
Trump’s bombshell proposal, which was scant on details, sent shockwaves through much of the world on Tuesday, including among many in his own Republican Party, and reports varied on how many people had known about the announcement ahead of time.
By Wednesday, several top US officials sought to walk back some aspects of Trump’s comments, saying the removal would only be temporary, though Trump had said he hoped Gazans “wouldn’t want to return” to Gaza if they were set up in new homes elsewhere in the world.
Netanyahu himself appeared surprised by the pronouncement following the two leaders’ sit-down White House meeting, not commenting directly on it during his own remarks, but praising Trump for “your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, [and] your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas.”
