Eight Arab and Muslim-majority nations, including Egypt, condemned on Sunday in the “strongest terms” Israeli official statements regarding the expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, denouncing them as blueprints designed to forcibly uproot the enclave’s population from their homeland.
In a joint communique, foreign ministers from Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia declared that Israeli statements and proposals constitute a flagrant violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, and pose a direct threat to the legitimate, inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
The ministerial rebuke follows a proposal unveiled on Thursday by Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, outlining the expulsion of 250,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip within a single year, followed by the expulsion of the remaining population of roughly two million over the subsequent six years.
Ben-Gvir’s plan built on earlier remarks by Israeli defense minister Israel Katz, who stated that Israel stands ready to remove Palestinians out of Gaza by land and sea, but is awaiting the United States, which he claimed is searching for host nations willing to take them.
The eight foreign ministers affirmed their absolute rejection of any attempts or plots aimed at displacing Palestinians, whether within the occupied Palestinian territories or abroad, regardless of the pretext or label applied.
They warned of grave repercussions should calls for forced transfer materialize into declared state policy or executive measures aimed at uprooting Palestinians from their soil, characterizing such steps as an open challenge to international peace efforts.
The ministers noted that these measures directly undermine US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza, which explicitly incorporates an absolute rejection of forced displacement.
They emphasized that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of occupied Palestinian territory, demanding the preservation of territorial unity across Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The communique reiterated that the only path toward a just and lasting peace remains the realization of the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant international resolutions.
The ministers urged the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to shoulder its responsibilities, confront with resolve any bids to impose new demographic or geographic realities on occupied Palestinian land, and enforce compliance with international law.
The joint Arab-Muslim condemnation was issued despite assertions by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee denying that Israel possesses an expulsion plan for Gaza.
Speaking on Saturday during a visit to Palestinian Americans in the occupied West Bank, Huckabee claimed: “There is no plan whatsoever by the Israelis to forcibly displace the residents of Gaza.” He added that the Trump administration supports granting Palestinians the option to depart the Strip voluntarily.
Huckabee asserted that anyone wishing to leave “should have the right to do so,” describing the denial of exit to Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza as a “disgrace,” while insisting that neither Israelis nor Americans back forced transfer.
Calls by Israeli officials to remove Palestinians from Gaza have surfaced repeatedly since the launch of the Israeli military onslaught against the Strip, during which the vast majority of Gaza’s population has suffered internal displacement, many forced to flee multiple times.
Trump also triggered widespread criticism at the opening of his second presidential term after advocating for the removal of approximately two million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, floating an idea to convert the enclave into what he dubbed the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
At the time, Trump’s proposal drew broad international rejection alongside demands to rebuild the devastated Strip within a set timetable, without removing its Palestinian inhabitants.
The latest Israeli expulsion proposals arrive as Israel heads toward legislative elections scheduled for late October—the country’s first parliamentary vote since Oct. 7, 2023—with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing coalition facing expectations of a fierce political contest.
