Israel’s intelligence chief lets Gaza residents resettle abroad after war

(AFP, Jerusalem, 19th) Israeli officials said today that the international community should not fund the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza corridor and instead promote the “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians from territories around the world.

Any proposal to disperse Palestinians is extremely controversial in the Arab world, because 75 years ago in 1948, after the establishment of the state of Israel, 760,000 Palestinians were displaced in the war. They fled their homes or were expelled, which has since been called “Nakba”.

Conflict broke out between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in early October. The Gaza Housing Ministry, controlled by Hamas, stated that more than 40% of the houses in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed so far.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel said that one “option” after the war is to “advocate for the voluntary resettlement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip due to humanitarian considerations.”

Writing in The Jerusalem Post, she said, “Instead of spending money on rebuilding Gaza or providing it to the failed United Nations Relief and Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the international community could help pay Resettlement costs to help Gazans build new lives in a country that accepts them.”

“Gaza has long been seen as a problem with no answers,” Gamliel wrote. “We must try something new, and we call on the international community to help make this happen.”

“This could be a win-win solution: a win for the people of Gaza seeking a better life, and a win for Israel experiencing this devastating tragedy.”

Gaza is mainly populated by Palestinian refugees and their descendants. UNRWA said the Israel-Kazakhstan war has displaced more than 1.6 million people.

This large-scale population movement has evoked people’s memories of the “Disaster Day”. Some Israeli politicians have proposed pushing the Palestinians into neighboring Egypt, but Egypt has rejected the idea.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that “people should be able to stay in Gaza, their home.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Blinken that the expulsion of Gaza people would be tantamount to a “second Nakba.”