US Rejects Israeli Calls to Remove Palestinians From Gaza

The United States has rejected proposals by senior Israeli officials calling for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza, publicly distancing Washington from a position being advanced by Israel’s defence minister.

The US State Department told Al Jazeera on Friday that Washington does not support any plan involving the forced displacement, expulsion or mandatory transfer of Gaza’s population.

The clarification followed comments by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who said earlier in the week that removing Palestinians from Gaza remained, in his view, necessary to resolve the crisis in the territory.

Washington instead reaffirmed its support for President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, particularly the provision stating that Palestinians should not be forced to leave Gaza.

“As explicitly stated in Point 12 of the President’s plan: ‘No one will be forced to leave Gaza and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza,’” a State Department spokesperson said.

“The United States does not support any plan or proposal for the forced displacement, expulsion, or mandatory transfer of the population of Gaza,” the spokesperson added.

Washington Rejects Forced Displacement

The State Department’s response represents a rare public disagreement between Washington and senior Israeli officials over the future of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

The immediate issue was Katz’s call for what he described as “migration” from Gaza. Israeli officials have used the term while discussing proposals that would significantly reduce the Palestinian population in the territory.

Katz said on Wednesday that President Trump had not cancelled his support for removing Palestinians from Gaza but had instead “frozen” the idea.

The Israeli defence minister argued that there could ultimately be no solution to the Gaza crisis without Palestinians leaving the territory.

“In the end, there is no real solution for Gaza without this migration,” Katz said.

He also said Israel was prepared to facilitate the departure of Palestinians from Gaza through different means, including by sea and air.

According to Katz, the proposal remained under discussion within the Israeli government.

The US position communicated on Friday directly contrasts with that approach, with the State Department making clear that Washington does not endorse forced displacement or compulsory transfer of Gaza’s population.

Israeli Proposal Draws Regional Opposition

The proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza has also faced opposition from Arab states, including countries that maintain close relations with the United States.

Those governments have forcefully rejected attempts to remove Palestinians from their land, adding a regional dimension to the disagreement over what should happen to Gaza’s population.

The issue has remained closely tied to wider debates about the future of the territory, the status of Hamas and the conditions surrounding the ceasefire established under Trump’s 20-point plan.

The US State Department pointed specifically to the language of the plan as the basis for its position, stressing that Palestinians who want to remain should be encouraged to stay and that those who leave voluntarily should retain the freedom to return.

That position places voluntary movement in a fundamentally different category from the compulsory removal advocated by Katz.

Disagreement Over Gaza Peace Plan

The White House, meanwhile, referred Al Jazeera to a social media post by Trump in August in which the US president celebrated an agreement concerning the disarmament of Hamas.

The proposed arrangement includes a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the almost daily deadly attacks on the territory.

However, Israel rejected the proposal, maintaining that it would not make concessions until Gaza was fully demilitarised.

The disagreement has therefore extended beyond the question of Palestinian displacement to the broader conditions surrounding the proposed settlement.

While Washington continues to point to the 20-point plan and its provision against forced displacement, Israeli officials have continued to emphasise demilitarisation and, in Katz’s case, the removal of Palestinians as part of what he considers a possible solution.

Katz Says Removal Plan Remains Under Discussion

Katz’s comments indicate that the proposal to remove Palestinians has not disappeared from the Israeli political debate.

He said Trump had merely frozen, rather than cancelled, his support for the idea and indicated that discussions over how Palestinians could leave Gaza were continuing.

The Israeli defence minister said Israel was prepared to facilitate departures “by sea, by air and by any means to do it”.

The comments have drawn renewed attention to the distinction between voluntary migration and forced displacement. Rights advocates have described efforts to remove Palestinians from Gaza against their will as potentially amounting to ethnic cleansing.

Washington’s latest statement does not endorse that approach.

Instead, the State Department reiterated that the US does not support any plan requiring Gaza’s population to leave the territory.

A Public Rift Over Gaza’s Future

The exchange highlights a notable disagreement between the United States and Israel over one of the most sensitive questions surrounding Gaza’s future: whether Palestinians should remain in the territory or be encouraged or compelled to leave.

For Washington, the stated position is anchored in Point 12 of Trump’s peace plan, which says Palestinians should not be forced out and that those who voluntarily leave should be free to return.

For Katz, however, the removal of Palestinians remains part of the proposed solution to the crisis.

The Israeli minister’s comments have therefore placed the two positions in direct contrast, with the US publicly rejecting forced displacement while an Israeli senior official continues to advocate for what he calls migration.

The disagreement comes as the broader peace proposal remains contested. The plan includes provisions involving Hamas’s disarmament, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the continuing deadly attacks, but Israel has rejected the proposal in its current form and insisted on full demilitarisation of Gaza before making concessions.

The United States has nevertheless continued to associate itself with the framework and has now explicitly clarified that its support for the plan does not extend to the forced removal of Palestinians.

For Palestinians in Gaza, the distinction outlined by Washington centres on the right to remain, while allowing those who voluntarily leave to return.

The US State Department’s statement therefore places Washington at odds with Katz’s assertion that there can be no lasting solution without Palestinian “migration”, making the issue one of the clearest recent points of public disagreement between the two allies over Gaza’s future.