Israel has implored Ireland and Spain to take Palestinians displaced by the brutal war in the Gaza Strip, after making ‘false claims’ about the IDF’s actions in the enclave.
Israel‘s defence minister Israel Katz reportedly ordered the IDF to prepare for the ‘voluntary departure’ of residents from Gaza, after US president Donald Trump drew widespread condemnation over plans to take over the strip.
When asked who ought to take in the Palestinian people, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations in Gaza, including Spain, Ireland and Norway.
‘Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories,’ he said.
‘Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse to do so. There are countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, that have previously expressed a willingness to accept Gaza residents.’
Both Spain and Ireland have long supported international legal action against Israel for the devastation wrought on the Gaza Strip, where so far nearly 50,000 people have been killed by the IDF.
Spain’s foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares told broadcaster RTVE earlier this week that the country was doing ‘everything possible’ to ensure crimes committed in Gaza ‘do not go unpunished’, while prime minister Pedro Sanchez said Israel’s actions in the Strip was tantamount to ‘mass murder.’
‘That’s why we’ve joined the South African case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ); it’s why we sent voluntary contributions to the International Criminal Court (ICC) so it can investigate crimes that may have been committed in Gaza,’ Albares said in the interview.
Last month, Ireland officially filed a motion to join the case against Israel at the ICC, a month after the country’s cabinet voted to support South Africa’s accusation of genocide at the war crimes court.
Norway, meanwhile, pushed the UN General Assembly in December to request an International Court of Justice ruling on whether Israel violated international law by preventing humanitarian aid into the enclave.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: ‘The international community cannot accept that the UN, international humanitarian organisations, and states continue to face systematic obstacles when working in Palestine and delivering humanitarian assistance to Palestinians under occupation.
‘This undermines the right of Palestinians to receive humanitarian aid and lifesaving assistance. We have a collective obligation to respond to this.
‘We are therefore requesting The International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population, delivered by international organisations, including the UN, and states.’
The instruction to prepare for a ‘voluntary departure’ of the Palestinian people came after Trump’s shock announcement that the United States plans to take over Gaza, resettle the Palestinians living there and transform the territory into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’.
‘I welcome President Trump’s bold plan, Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world,’ Israel’s Channel 12 quoted Katz as saying.
Katz’s plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air, Channel 12 reported.
Trump drew rebukes on Wednesday over his plan for Gaza from world powers Russia, China and Germany, which said it would foster ‘new suffering and new hatred.’
Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright and Jordan’s King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.
In a post on X, Iran’s foreign ministry said Trump’s plan is part of Israel’s attempt to ‘completely wipe out the Palestinian people’.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Trump’s proposal was ‘remarkable’ and urged that it be explored, even as he was not specific about what he believed Trump was offering.
Netanyahu said he did not believe Trump suggested sending U.S. troops to fight Hamas in Gaza, or that Washington would finance rebuilding efforts.
‘This is the first good idea that I’ve heard,’ he added. ‘It’s a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.’
Hamas, which ruled the Gaza Strip before the war, said Trump’s proposal was ‘ridiculous and absurd’.
Since January 25, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Palestinians in Gaza should be taken in by regional Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan, an idea rejected by both the Arab states and Palestinian leaders. He has given no specifics of his proposal to take over Gaza.
Trump’s aides defended his proposal but backed away from elements of it after international condemnation.
Rights groups have condemned as ethnic cleansing Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced, while also proposing a US takeover of Gaza.
Israel’s military assault on Gaza, now paused by a fragile ceasefire, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in the last 16 months, the Gaza health ministry says, and provoked accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.
The assault repeatedly internally displaced nearly all of Gaza’s population and caused a hunger crisis.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ assault on Israel, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
