High-ranking agencies met to re-evaluate the plan for „voluntary migration” from the besieged zone, while acknowledging that no state had agreed to accept Palestinians.
Nadav Rapaport, Tel Aviv Published: 24 June 2026 14:31 BST | Last updated: 1 hour 58 minutes ago
Haaretz reported that senior Israeli security officials met on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, despite previous attempts to advance such plans having failed several times.
The Israeli daily reported that Shmuel Ben Ezra, head of the National Security Council, called an urgent meeting with defense officials to discuss „encouraging voluntary emigration” from Gaza. Among those invited were representatives from the Israeli army, Shin Bet (internal security service), and Mossad.
During the meeting, Mossad representatives reportedly stated that the agency had not identified any countries that would be willing to accept Palestinians from Gaza.
Defense officials in For Haaretz They said they were surprised by the urgency of the discussion, noting that the issue has been raised several times in the past without any progress. „So far, we are not aware of any country in the world that would be willing to accept Palestinians who want to leave the Gaza Strip,” one official said. „We are also not aware of any changes that would allow such a move without complex coordination among international actors.”
„No Arab should be there” – Nissim Vaturi, Likud MP
A security source also told the newspaper that it cannot be ruled out that the renewed dispute is part of the "compensation" package that US President Donald Trump offered to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the US-Iran agreement.
A member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee told Haaretz that any such plan lacks „political or international feasibility,” citing opposition from Arab states and the broader international community.
The idea of forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza has been a recurring theme in Israeli political discourse since October 2023. High-ranking figures, including Netanyahu, ministers Israel Katz, Bezalel Smotrich, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, have publicly supported the concept, and similar rhetoric has emerged within the prime minister's Likud party.
In 2025, Katz established a directorate within his ministry to facilitate the „voluntary emigration” of Gaza residents, and the Israeli defense minister stated last month that the expulsion of the Palestinian population would occur at the appropriate time.
According to a poll last year by the Jewish People Policy Institute, more than 70 percent of Likud voters supported the idea of expelling the Palestinian population from their homeland.
„"They should all be expelled"”
Support for the expulsion of Palestinians in Israel is not limited to the Gaza Strip.
Likud lawmaker Nissim Vaturi told Channel 14 News on Tuesday that Jewish Israelis „will not be able to live here in peace until we expel all the Arabs from this area,” referring to the occupied West Bank. „There should be no Arabs there at all,” said Vaturi, who serves as deputy speaker of the Knesset.
„We must strengthen the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria,” said Vaturi, using the Israeli name for the West Bank, adding, „this is the only way we can live here, in the land of Israel.” The vice president said it was now essential to discuss „where to remove the Arabs and where to settle the Jews.”.
„"This must be done to strengthen Israel. There is no other way; they must all be expelled from here," Vaturi added, referring to the Palestinians.
This is not the first time the Likud lawmaker has expressed support for expelling Palestinians. In November, he said that Meir Kahane, the ultranationalist rabbi who called for the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel, „spoke the truth.”.
Vaturi has previously stated that Israel should "separately select women and children and kill adults in Gaza," and called for "the burning of Gaza" following Hamas's October 7 attack.
