Israel seeks Trump's support to expel Palestinians from Gaza - National & International News -

Israel seeking Trump’s support to expel Palestinians from Gaza

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz stated earlier this week that Israel is seeking Trump’s support for a plan to expel all of Gaza’s Palestinian population to other countries. Katz said there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration” and said Israel’s government was “prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way possible”.

Katz did not make it clear how many of the Palestinians he was planning to expel. Following three years of Israel’s campaign of total destruction in Gaza, there are still believed to be about 2 million people in Gaza (down from about 2.2 million before October 7, 2023). Far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made it clear that the goal was to gradually expel all Palestinians from Gaza. Ben-Gvir said, “Two hundred fifty thousand in the first year, is it possible? It is possible. One-point-one million within three years, and within seven years, we can reach almost 1.9 million, which will accumulate”.

Despite a US-brokered “ceasefire” being in effect since October of last year, Israel has continued killing Palestinians in Gaza in military actions almost daily. Between October 8, 2023, and October 10, 2025 Over the 2 years before the ceasefire, Israel killed around 100 Palestinians each day on average. Since the “ceasefire,” Israel has killed over 1300 people according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Previous plans to expel the Palestinians

Last year, the Israeli government was in talks with several African countries to see if any would be open to receiving Palestinians deported from Gaza. These included Somaliland, Sudan, South Sudan, DR Congo, all of which are highly unstable and experiencing armed conflicts of their own. The Trump administration was initially supportive of the idea and reached out to many of these countries in conjunction with Israel’s own efforts.

The US later backed away from the plans for wholesale displacement for several reasons, including pressure from international bodies and humanitarian groups. Many, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, have condemned the plans as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing. Furthermore, even if the moral and legal objections were overcome and a willing recipient country could be found, the plan was widely considered not to be feasible.

The discussion of expelling Gaza’s population has been revived as Israel is heading towards a parliamentary election in late October. A poll last year found that 82% of Jewish Israelis favored expelling the Palestinians from Gaza. In that context, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Israeli politicians have revived public discussion around mass expulsion, despite the possibly insurmountable legal and logistic hurdles.