Israeli Katz says he has instructed the military to prepare a plan to move all Palestinians in Gaza to camps south of the territory, Israeli media reports say.
Katz told journalists on Monday that he wanted to establish a “humanitarian city” at the ruins of Rafa, initially housed around 600,000 Palestinians and ultimately housed a population of 2.3 million, the BBC reported.
He said the goal is to take people inside after the security screening to make sure they are not Hamas operatives and not be allowed to leave.
If the conditions are permitted, construction will begin during the 60-day ceasefire that Israel and Hamas are trying to negotiate, he added.
One Israeli human rights lawyer criticized it as nothing more than a “plan for operating crimes against humanity.”
“It’s all about the population relocation to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, in preparation for deportation outside the strip,” Michael Sphard told the Guardian Newspaper.
The United Nations also warned that the deportation or forced relocation of civilians in occupied territories is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and “equal to ethnic cleansing.”
There were no immediate comments from Palestinian authorities or Hamas.
At a White House meeting later Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about President Donald Trump’s proposal to allow the US to take over post-war Gaza and resettle its population elsewhere forever.
Netanyahu said:
“We’re working very closely with the US on finding a country that tries to make what they’re always saying. They wanted to give the Palestinians a better future.”
“We’ve had a great cooperation from…normal countries. A great cooperation from all of them. So something good happens.”
In March, Arab countries supported a $530 billion (£39 billion) of Egyptian alternative to replace Trump’s plan to rebuild Gaza, allowing Palestinians living there to stay in place.
They also highlighted “categorical rejection of all forms of Palestinians,” explaining ideas such as “serious violations of international law, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing.”
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