The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" said, on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, that Israeli lawmakers continue to pressure to deport Gazans under the guise of "humanitarian assistance," considering this in light of the devastating war on the Strip to be a "ridiculous joke," in an editorial published under the title: “Israeli lawmakers continue to push for transfer under the guise of humanitarian aid.”

According to the newspaper: “Knesset member from the Likud party (led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), Danny Danon, found the solution to the Gaza problem, and revealed in an interview with Kan (Israeli) radio that he had received calls from countries in Latin America and Africa wishing to absorb refugees from the Gaza Strip.” 

It continued: “In fact, Danon, who served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2015 to 2020, sees this idea as a humanitarian solution, and said: We have to make it easier for the residents of Gaza to leave for other countries. I am talking about voluntary immigration for Palestinians who want to leave.” .

"Involuntary deportation"

The newspaper criticized his words by saying: “Without a point of self-awareness, Danon gave the example of Syria, of all countries, as a precedent proving the futility of his solution,” and continued: “Danon can insist as much as he wants that this will be “voluntary,” but what he is proposing It is a deportation of the population in all respects.”

The newspaper considered that "dealing with Gazans who are thinking of fleeing for their lives as if they were leaving voluntarily, at a time when Gaza is being bombed non-stop, and the death toll has exceeded 20 thousand, and entire neighborhoods have been wiped out, and the region is suffering from a humanitarian crisis, and there is no water or food or infrastructure, but there are so many diseases, it's a sick joke."

It continued: “The only desire that plays a role here is the desire of Danon and his ideological partners, who want to expel the residents of Gaza and return to the Jewish settlements that were evacuated from the Strip in 2005,” pointing out that “Danon has been pushing the idea of voluntary transfer (as he put it) in international talks some time ago".

It said: "He is not alone. A few weeks ago, Knesset member Ram Ben Barak from the There is a Future party published an editorial on this issue in the Wall Street Journal, which indicates that the idea of transfer (deportation) has found a foothold in the opposition as well."

It added: “Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel also published an editorial on this issue in the Jerusalem Post last month, and the Israeli embassy in Washington was forced to clarify that this does not reflect government policy.”

Netanyahu enters the line

According to Haaretz, “What is most disturbing is that Netanyahu himself is discussing this issue. At a meeting of Knesset members from the Likud Party on Monday, and in response to Danon’s statement that Israel must form a working group to deal with this issue, Netanyahu said: Our problem is the countries that want to absorb them, we are working on this matter."

Regarding this, the newspaper said: “Netanyahu’s extremism continues, and after he legitimized Kahanism (following the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane) and paved the way for Itamar Ben Gvir (the extremist Minister of National Security) to the government, he now allows discussion of transfer.”

It added: "But, regardless of the diplomatic cover used by Netanyahu, Danon and their colleagues, this distorted and immoral idea must not become a legitimate option."

Re-settlement in Gaza

Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza, Israeli calls have emerged, especially among the extreme right, openly calling for the deportation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the resettlement there, especially in the settlements that Israel had previously evacuated in 2005.

These calls were met with a wave of widespread regional and international rejection, disapproval, and condemnation, especially the devastating war that supported them, which included tightening the siege and forcing most of the people of the Gaza Strip to migrate toward the south, in what was considered the first stage of a “new Palestinian alienation,” as happened in 1948 during the founding of Israel.

In the same context, the Palestinian rejection of any proposal or plan for displacement was repeated, at both the official and popular levels, whether by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, or by the Palestinian factions in the West Bank and Gaza.

The ongoing Israeli war against the Gaza Strip since October 7, until Wednesday, left 21,110 martyrs and 55,243 wounded, most of them children and women, massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Strip authorities and the United Nations.