Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has confirmed that he instructed the IDF to prepare plans to confine the entire population of Gaza in a new “humanitarian city” in Rafah.
The new camp would be built on the ruins of the city in the south of the Strip, with Gazans screened through security checks before being allowed to enter.
However, Katz confirmed that, once settled in the area, Palestinians would not be allowed to leave.
Announcing the proposal, he said that the city would initially house the roughly 600,000 displaced people living in the Mawasi refugee camp, with the eventual goal to transfer the Strip’s entire civilian population.
A further four humanitarian aid sites would be established in the area to accommodate the extra demand, while the IDF would secure a buffer zone around the camp.
But Katz said that, once Gazans had relocated, they would be encouraged to “voluntarily emigrate” to third countries, echoing US President Trump’s plan to temporarily transfer Gazans while the Strip is redeveloped.
Katz did not specify, though, whether such emigration would be temporary or permanent.
He also stressed that the city would be administered by international bodies rather than the IDF, but did not clarify which organisations he was referring to.
The plan has already received significant criticism, with Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer, claiming that it amounted to “an operation plan for a crime against humanity”.
He said: “It is all about population transfer to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip in preparation for deportation outside the strip.
“While the government still calls the deportation ‘voluntary’, people in Gaza are under so many coercive measures that no departure from the strip can be seen in legal terms as consensual.
“When you drive someone out of their homeland that would be a war crime, in the context of a war. If it’s done on a massive scale like he plans, it becomes a crime against humanity.”
The announcement comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas roll on in Doha, with the first round over the weekend ending inconclusively.
On the table is the Trump-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, which would see the release in stages of half of the remaining 20 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages.
Hamas said it responded "positively" to the plan, but Israel claimed the group had asked for some "unacceptable" concessions.
Disputes are reported to centre on guarantees that the truce will last beyond its formal expiry, the mechanisms for distributing humanitarian aid and the timeline and extent of IDF withdrawals.
