Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the Israeli plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population, which he frames as “voluntary emigration,” will be implemented at the “right time.”
Katz made the comments in a statement on the Israeli killing of Mohammed Odeh, who was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Tuesday night as the IDF continues daily attacks in the Strip in violation of the US-backed October 2025 ceasefire deal.
“We committed to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and so it shall be: they are all sentenced to death, wherever they may be,” Katz wrote on X.
“We committed that Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily, and so it shall be, and also the voluntary emigration plan from Gaza will be implemented—everything at the right timing and in the right manner,” he added.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, it’s been clear that the Israeli government’s desired goal was the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territory, though it’s been unable to achieve it, as Israeli officials haven’t found a country willing to absorb the population of Gaza.
The ethnic cleansing plan got a boost after President Trump announced last year his vision for turning Gaza into a Middle East “Riviera,” a plan that involved removing the Palestinians. But the US backed off on this goal when forming its “peace plan” for the Strip, which hasn’t been implemented as Israel has continued its constant violations of the initial ceasefire deal.
But senior Israeli officials have made clear that their ultimate goal remains ethnic cleansing, and some have been explicit in their calls for the establishment of Jewish settlements in the Strip.
“I call on the prime minister to order the IDF to prepare immediately for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip, to establish Israeli control over all the territory of the Strip, and to establish Israeli settlement in it. Without settlement, there will be no security,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last month.
