DM Katz says Israel will continue to pursue 'voluntary emigration' plan for Gaza, Hamas will not rule enclave

Israel will implement a voluntary emigration plan for Palestinians wishing to leave the Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday morning. 

In a post to social media confirming the death of Hamas military commander Mohammed Odeh, Katz said that Israel still intends to implement a voluntary emigration policy in Gaza, something several members of the coalition government have been pushing for since shortly after the start of the Gaza War. 

The voluntary emigration of Palestinians from Gaza was originally part of the proposed Gaza Peace Plan put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump as early as January 2025.

At that time, Trump encouraged the leaders of Jordan and Egypt to receive Gazans wanting to flee the destroyed enclave. 

Shortly after, Katz said he instructed the IDF to draw up a plan for voluntary emigration from Gaza. At that time, Katz castigated countries that accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza, while simultaneously denying entry to Palestinians wishing to flee the destruction of the war. 

Later in February, Katz began working to establish a body, with input from the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which he said would work with the United States to enable Gaza residents who wish to leave to do so. 

When around 1,000 residents departed the Gaza Strip in March 2025, including some leaving for medical treatment, it appeared that Israel might be making progress in finding countries willing to take Gazans. However, it was later revealed that most of those leaving already had legal papers in other countries. 

The government of Indonesia later agreed to receive a limited number of Gazan workers and their families, provided the residents were allowed to return to Gaza once the Strip had been rebuilt. Previously, Indonesia had allowed 1,000 Gaza residents to enter for medical treatment. 

However, despite having previously exercised governance over Gaza and having repeatedly criticized Israel for the poor conditions in the Strip, Egypt persisted in refusing to allow Gaza residents to enter its territory, even under U.S. pressure. 

The earliest drafts of the Trump Gaza Peace Plan included a call for voluntary emigration, which encouraged some in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue openly call for such a program, despite international opposition to such a plan. 

However, it is not only members of the Israeli government who find the idea of voluntary emigration by Gaza residents to be attractive. A recent survey conducted by COGAT in the Gaza Strip found that 80% of respondents were interested in receiving more information about such a program.

That poll found results similar to a Gallup poll in Gaza, conducted around the same time, which showed that about 52% of respondents would be interested in leaving Gaza temporarily until reconstruction was completed. 

With the Gaza ceasefire becoming more of a stalemate, and Hamas refusing to agree to disarmament, while also preventing attempts to begin United Arab Emirates-funded reconstruction efforts in Rafah, which is currently under IDF control. 

Hamas blocked a group of Gazans who had been contracted to work in Rafah from approaching the security checkpoint to cross over into the IDF-controlled area in early May.

The terror group views the UAE initiative as a move intended to weaken its authority, separating the Gaza residents from Hamas' political authority. 

The move demonstrated that, apart from refusing to disarm, as called for in the Gaza Peace Plan, Hamas was willing to forcibly resist the reconstruction efforts laid out in the Trump-initiated plan. The U.S.-led Board of Peace (BoP) said this week that Hamas’ refusal to disarm is the main obstacle to progress in the Gaza Strip. 

So far, the U.S. government has not commented either on Hamas’s prevention of the reconstruction efforts or on the remarks by Katz about implementing voluntary emigration, as it appears focused on Iran negotiations.