Hamas urges Arab, Muslim states to oppose plans to displace Gazans

Gaza City witnessed Hamas urging Arab and Muslim nations on Friday to oppose Israeli ministers' plans to forcibly remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Escalating comments from Israeli government ministers proposing the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza represents a highly dangerous situation, according to Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem. He called upon Arab and Islamic countries to take serious and unified actions to counter these plans and adopt effective measures to prevent them.

On Thursday, Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir unveiled a plan to relocate 250,000 Palestinians from Gaza in the first year, followed by the remaining two million over the subsequent six years. This announcement came after Defence Minister Israel Katz's statement the previous day, indicating Israel's readiness to remove Palestinians from Gaza via sea and land, awaiting guidance from the United States. The US, in turn, was contemplating potential destinations for the displaced population.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had earlier suggested that Palestinians from the West Bank, where Israeli settlers have been increasingly engaged in violent attacks, should also be displaced. The Geneva Conventions classify the forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory as a war crime. Nearly the entire Gaza population has already been internally displaced due to relentless Israeli bombing since the Hamas-led Oct 7, 2023 attacks, which were the deadliest ever against Israel, resulting in mostly civilian casualties.

These Israeli remarks precede the Oct 27 elections, where polls indicate a closely contested race for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Recent elections have seen far-right ministers integrated into his cabinet. In a surprising move early in his second term, US President Donald Trump proposed removing Palestinians from Gaza and transforming the devastated territory into a luxury resort. His proposal was met with international backlash, notably from Egypt, the only nation besides Israel bordering Gaza.