The Israeli security services are preparing to present a position to the Israeli Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs stating that “it is not possible to prevent the return of the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to their areas for an unlimited period,” in light of the restrictions imposed by international law.

High-ranking Israeli security officials believe that the occupation authorities must allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes as part of the next phase of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, stressing that Israel will not be able to prevent them in light of the “legal and political” restrictions.

This came according to what Israeli Channel 13 reported on Wednesday evening, stressing that this comes within the framework of the security services preparing perceptions about the development of military operations in the besieged Gaza Strip, in preparation for the discussions held by the Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs, on Thursday.

The report explained that the position formulated by senior officials in the security establishment is that “subject to the legal (referring to international law) and political circumstances (aimed at mobilizing the international community to support Israel in its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip for nearly 90 days), Israel will not be able to prevent Residents of northern Gaza from returning to their areas.

The channel indicated that the security services did not recommend a specific target date or date to begin allowing the return of displaced Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip to their areas. However, the channel indicated that senior officials in the security services say in deliberations with the Israeli political leadership that this must happen with the start of the "third" phase of the war on Gaza.

The channel added, "Officials in the security services justify this position, among other things, by the fact that according to international law, residents cannot be evacuated from their homes 'indefinitely'." According to the channel, these estimates also come in light of the session to be held by  International Justice in The Hague, next week, to consider South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel regarding violation of the rules of war and committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier today, a senior Israeli official, in a briefing to Israeli media, described the calls to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip launched by ministers in the Israeli government, including the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, as “delusions not linked to reality.” 

He claimed that Israel "is not working to displace the people of Gaza and resettle them in other places in the world," and continued, "Neither a million nor five thousand," and according to the official: "Even if we wanted to, Israel does not have the ability to push the people of Gaza to immigrate to another country" , referring to legal restrictions.

He added, "Israel does not negotiate with any country regarding the migration of Gazans. This approach must be abandoned. We are not in a vicious circle. There are many in Israel who believe that there may be a willingness in Gaza for voluntary migration. There must be no illusions. No country will accept it Palestinian resettlement.