“Israel” Plans Gaza Relocation to Single ‘Humanitarian’ City!

By Staff, Agencies

"Israel" is preparing to establish a so-called “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian enclave’s entire population is to be moved, the "Israeli" war minister, Yisrael Katz, has announced.

Critics of the initiative promptly branded the “city” an internment camp and warned of potentially widespread human rights abuse.

The planned “humanitarian city” will initially house around 600,000 displaced Palestinians from the Mawasi area near Rafah, Katz said Monday. He added that all 2.2 million Gazans are eventually to be relocated there, with the site secured remotely by the "Israeli" occupation forces [IOF] and managed by unnamed international organizations.

The Palestinians will undergo screening before being placed into the “city” to ensure no Hamas operatives slip in, Katz noted. The scheme is ultimately designed to displace the entire Gaza population and encourage it to “voluntarily emigrate” from the enclave elsewhere, the minister admitted. Those who end up in the zone will not be allowed to return to other parts of Gaza, he added.

The War ministry has already begun planning for the zone, according to Katz. However, the occupying entity have made no public statements on the scheme or said whether it has actually been approved. It also remains unclear when the plan would be put into motion.

The proposed “humanitarian city” has been criticized by human rights advocates and activists, who have branded it an internal camp and warned of potential abuses. Michael Sfard, a leading "Israeli" human rights lawyer, called the proposed scheme “an operational plan for a crime against humanity.”

Sfard told the Guardian, while "Israel" still calls the deportation ‘voluntary,’ people in Gaza are under so many coercive measures that no departure from the strip can be seen in legal terms as consensual.

The “humanitarian city” plan comes after "Israel" rejected Hamas’ proposed changes to a Gaza ceasefire deal. Hamas reportedly wanted the agreement to ensure a permanent truce and "Israeli" withdrawal from Gaza.