Israel’s Transfer Plan a ‘Deliberate Effort to Depopulate’ Gaza – Report
The plan, announced by Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday, aims to initially transfer some 600,000 already-displaced Palestinians.
Israel’s plan to force all Palestinians in Gaza to a so-called “humanitarian city” in Rafah “reflects a deliberate effort to depopulate” and “erase the Palestinian presence” in the besieged enclave, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor warned on Wednesday.
The plan, announced by Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday, aims to initially transfer some 600,000 already-displaced Palestinians who have been living in the al-Mawasi area on the coast into the new zone. They would be screened upon entry and, once inside, not be allowed to leave, Katz reportedly said.
According to a recent Haaretz report, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has instructed the military to bring forward a plan to confine the entire Gaza population in an area near Rafah, referred to as a so-called “humanitarian city” pic.twitter.com/80PkOxXK1H
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 9, 2025
If conditions allow, construction of the “city” would begin during the 60-day ceasefire currently under negotiation, Haaretz reported.
‘Closed Concentration Camp’
Condemning the proposal, Euro-Med Monitor said the zone “effectively constitutes the establishment of a closed mass concentration camp, where the population will be forcibly held outside any legitimate legal framework.”
The rights body said the danger of this plan “is compounded by Defence Minister Katz’s endorsement of what he termed the ‘voluntary migration’ of Palestinians, clearly indicating Israel’s adoption of a policy of external displacement” targeting Gaza’s population.
1/5 Amid Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Defence Minister Israel Katz’s proposed plans to concentrate all Gaza’s residents in a so-called “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah and prevent them from leaving the area are outrageous, inhumane and…
— Amnesty MENA (@AmnestyMENA) July 9, 2025
“This confirms that the concentration of people in the south is not a humanitarian measure but a transitional phase within a systematic plan to depopulate Gaza,” Euro-Med Monitor said.
“It is a direct continuation of the policies of ethnic cleansing pursued by Israel since the Nakba of 1948, aimed at erasing the Palestinian presence and uprooting them from their land permanently,” the organization stated.
‘Clear Violation’ of IHL
The plan also constitutes “a clear violation” of international humanitarian law, Euro-Med Monitor emphasized, “particularly the absolute prohibition on the forced transfer and mass detention of protected populations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
“It falls within the scope of forced displacement, persecution, and apartheid, which are patterns of policies and practices that individually amount to crimes against humanity under international law,” the organization stated.
Amid Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Defence Minister Israel Katz’s proposed plans to concentrate all Gaza’s residents in a so-called “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah and prevent them from leaving the area are outrageous, inhumane and unlawful. pic.twitter.com/x3yX3Xl2P2
— Erika Guevara Rosas (@ErikaGuevaraR) July 8, 2025
It also pointed out that Katz’s statements “about exploiting the temporary ceasefire, currently under negotiation, clearly indicate that the ceasefire is not intended to halt the ongoing genocide but to give the Israeli army time and the necessary ground conditions to establish mass concentration camps.”
Euro-Med Monitor warned that these camps are meant to receive hundreds of thousands of civilians “who will later be forced to flee under the pressure of escalating killings, starvation, and forced displacement.”
Effort to ‘Mislead’ Public Opinion
The organization also pointed out that the contradiction between Katz’s announcement and the Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir’s statement two days earlier that “transferring the population is not a military objective exposes a deliberate effort to mislead public opinion and the international community.”
Field evidence, said Euro-Med Monitor, “clearly shows that this is the execution of a political plan, not the result of emergency military operations.”
Gaza: Bureaucratizing Genocide, Administering Hunger through Aid
“Katz’s statements, rather than the army’s denials, reflect the true intent and official policy, serving as conclusive evidence of mass forced displacement carried out under military cover,” the organization added.
Euro-Med described the use of “humanitarian zone” as a “misleading” term and a “deliberate manipulation of language” as “a blatant attempt to conceal a full-fledged crime and mislead the international community.”
“The plan has no genuine humanitarian dimension; it serves only as a cover for a clear strategic objective to forcibly alter the demographic composition of the Gaza Strip and gradually depopulate it,” the rights body stated.
GHF’s ‘Death Traps’
Euro-Med Monitor highlighted that the aid distribution centres run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) have effectively become “death traps,” with 758 Palestinians killed and over 5,000 injured since the centres opened in late May.
Evidence Israel Uses Starvation to ‘Inflict Genocide’ in Gaza – Amnesty
“This offers a stark warning of what awaits hundreds of thousands of civilians if forcibly transferred to that zone under a false humanitarian pretext that conceals a systematic genocide,” the organization warned.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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