[International] Israeli Defense Minister Says Palestinians Will Be Moved Out of Gaza If US Approves

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated on the 2nd that Israel is prepared to implement a plan to move Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and is currently awaiting the United States to determine resettlement locations. According to Agence France-Presse, Katz said at a conference hosted by Israeli news websites Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth: "Without this immigration plan, Gaza will ultimately have no substantive solution." He stated that the Israeli government "is ready and prepared to move them out by sea, air, and all possible means." The U.S. Embassy in Israel forwarded the request for comment to the State Department in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump, early in his second term, called for the departure of all approximately 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, shocking many. Katz said that Trump had only "frozen" this idea because he was seeking other countries willing to accept Palestinians. Katz claimed, without citing sources, that 80% of Gaza's population wishes to leave, but Hamas is preventing them. According to the Geneva Conventions, the forced displacement of civilians from occupied territory is considered a war crime. The International Criminal Court (ICC) had previously issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz's predecessor, Yoav Gallant, on suspicion of war crimes, but both Israel and the United States denied this. (Editor: Liao Yiting)