Palestinians condemn Israeli ministers’ calls to expel Gaza residents

Palestinian officials and Hamas have denounced calls by two far-right Israeli ministers to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, describing the proposals as a grave threat and urging Arab and Muslim governments to respond.

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An extremely dangerous development.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem called the ministers’ statements “an extremely dangerous development.” He urged “Arab and Islamic countries to take serious and unified action to confront these plans and adopt effective positions and measures to thwart them.”

Rawhi Fattouh, speaker of the Palestinian National Council, said comments by Israel Katz and Itamar Ben-Gvir revealed “a systematic project of ethnic cleansing,” according to a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. He said openly treating the forced removal of Palestinians as a political option violated international humanitarian law and the U.N. Charter.

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Arab and Islamic countries to take serious and unified action to confront these plans and adopt effective positions and measures to thwart them.

Ben-Gvir unveiled a plan on Thursday to displace 1.86 million Palestinians from Gaza over seven years through a dedicated ministry. A day earlier, Katz said pressure from Arab countries on U.S. President Donald Trump, together with investment offers to him, had frozen a plan to remove Palestinians from the enclave.

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A systematic project of ethnic cleansing.

Fattouh also warned that efforts to weaken the International Criminal Court and undermine its mandate could encourage those responsible for “killing, genocide and ethnic cleansing” to continue without accountability. He called on the international community and the U.N. Security Council to defend the court’s independence, impose sanctions on the Israeli government and pursue accountability for alleged violations of international law.

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Killing, genocide and ethnic cleansing.