Israel is in “serious talks with several countries” to relocate large numbers of people out of the Gaza Strip, a senior diplomatic source told JNS and other media outlets during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary.
“We are not giving up on Trump’s vision of voluntary migration,” the source said.
He said Israel was discussing the matter with a number of countries simultaneously, although he declined to name them. “They’re willing to do it as part of an exchange, not necessarily money,” he said.
Polls show that Palestinians in Gaza want to leave, the source noted. “Even before Israel restarted military action, 60% said they wanted to leave—40% of those don’t want to come back, and another 20% want to go but with the option to return. That’s more than 1 million people who say they want to leave,” he said.
Civilians in Gaza are saying this while still afraid to speak freely due to fear of retaliation from Hamas, he noted, suggesting the number of those eager to depart is still higher.
Fear of Hamas may be diminishing. Hundreds took to the streets on March 25, calling for an end to the conflict and for the terror group to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip.
U.S. President Donald Trump first called for “permanently” resettling Palestinians in Gaza in early February during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
“Gaza is not a place for people to be living, and the only reason they want to go back—and I believe this strongly—is because they have no alternative,” the president said.
‘Customary everywhere in the world’
Shortly before Trump’s remarks, U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who had visited the Gaza Strip, said it was unlivable, describing a hellscape of teetering buildings, broken utilities, fear of disease, and unexploded ordnance.
Most countries have rejected Trump’s proposal, but polls showed Israelis supporting the idea.
Netanyahu endorsed the proposal in a Feb. 5 Fox News interview. “This is the first good idea I’ve heard. It’s a remarkable idea, and I think that it should be really … pursued and done because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”
On Feb. 6, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a plan to facilitate the voluntary departure of people from the Gaza Strip.
“The plan will include exit options at land crossings as well as special arrangements for exit by sea and air,” he said.
“I welcome U.S. President Donald Trump’s bold plan. The residents of Gaza should be allowed to enjoy the freedom of exit and migration, as is customary everywhere in the world,” Katz said.
On March 9, the Knesset Land of Israel Caucus, the largest lobby in Israel’s parliament, representing some 80 Knesset members, threw its weight behind Trump’s plan during a special conference in Israel’s parliament.
‘An obligation to help the Palestinians’
The sticking point, however, appears to be neither Israel’s willingness to facilitate mass migration nor Gazans’ readiness to leave, but rather, finding partner countries willing to take them in.
On March 8, foreign ministers from Arab countries held a special session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Saudi Arabia to offer a counter-proposal involving the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
It echoed a joint statement on Feb. 1 from Arab countries rejecting Trump’s demand that Egypt and Jordan take in more Gazans. Both countries refused.
Non-Arab countries are reportedly more open to the idea.
In December 2023, Knesset member Danny Danon, who returned to serve as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in 2024, having previously held the post from 2015 to 2020, said South American and African countries have expressed interest in taking in Palestinians in exchange for financial remuneration.
Danon said that Arab countries should lend a hand, too, as they “have an obligation to help the Palestinians. Let them help instead of giving inflammatory speeches.”
Proposals for the transfer of Palestinian Arabs have been broached for years, both inside and outside of Israel.
One of the most famous proponents of transfer was U.S. President Herbert Hoover, who saw it as a just solution to the highly volatile Arab-Jewish conflict, urging their relocation to Iraq, which at the time needed people to develop its economy.
After the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, an involuntary population exchange took place between Greece and Turkey involving some 2 million people.
Norwegian explorer turned diplomat Fridtjof Nansen won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 in part for his role in negotiating that exchange.