Key facts
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated there are no plans to deport Palestinians from Gaza.
- Saar said voluntary emigration would not be opposed, but forced expulsion would not occur.
- The statement contrasts with recent proposals from other Israeli ministers for Palestinian removal.
- Defence Minister Israel Katz suggested Palestinian migration is necessary for a Gaza solution.
- Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir proposed a seven-year plan for "voluntary emigration" from Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced on Wednesday that the government has no intention of deporting Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. His remarks came after two other Israeli ministers had recently put forward proposals for the mass removal of Palestinians from the territory.
"We are not planning to expel or to deport anyone from (the) Gaza Strip," Saar told a press conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He added, "If someone wants to immigrate (on) his own will, and there is a country which is ready to accept him .... we will not oppose that, but we will (also) not enforce anyone against (their) will."
Saar is in Slovenia to inaugurate the Israeli embassy in Ljubljana. Earlier this month, Defence Minister Israel Katz stated on September 2 that there was "no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration" of Palestinians. On September 3, far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir outlined a seven-year plan for removing Gaza's population through what he described as "voluntary emigration."
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