Plans by Israel for a new authority to facilitate the departure of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were criticized by Israeli activists as well as by Jordan and Germany on Monday.
A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier confirmed that the Security Cabinet had approved a proposal to set up an authority, under the Defence Ministry, tasked with “preparing the voluntary departure of residents of the Gaza Strip to third countries in a safe and controlled manner.”
It comes after US President Donald Trump proposed to resettle Gaza’s population of more than 2 million to Arab countries and convert the war-torn coastal strip into a Middle East “riviera,” a vision that has been widely rejected by Israel’s Arab neighbours, including Egypt which borders Gaza.
The Israeli campaign group Peace Now condemned the move, labelling it “an indelible stain on Israel” in an English-language post on X.
“When life in a certain place is made impossible by bombing and siege, there is nothing ‘voluntary’ about people leaving,” the organization wrote.
The German Foreign Office said it had not yet examined the Israeli proposal but that it was potentially alarming.
“If this involves setting up an authority with the aim of permanent expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, that is unacceptable and must be condemned,” a spokesman said in Berlin.
The German government also expressed sharp criticism of Israel’s decision to recognize 13 West Bank settlements seen as illegal under international law.
“We sharply condemn this decision,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.
“We reject Israel’s settlement policy, as it is contrary to international law and obstructs any chance of a two-state solution by blocking a viable Palestinian state,” he added.
Jordan strongly condemned Israel’s settlement policies, including the plan to facilitate migration from Gaza, with the Foreign Ministry in Amman saying they amount to forced displacement.
All measures directed against the presence of Palestinians on their land constitute a blatant violation of international law, the ministry said.
Jordan is one of the countries that has taken in the largest number of refugees per citizen, particularly Palestinians and Syrians.
An estimated 30-40% of all Jordanians have Palestinian roots, including Queen Rania.
Jordan, which borders Israel to the east, signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said on Monday that it is withdrawing around a third of its international employees from Gaza following an attack on UN employees there.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres “has taken the difficult decision to reduce the United Nations footprint in Gaza,” spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in New York.
Dujarric emphasized that the UN was not leaving Gaza and remains “committed to continuing to provide aid that civilians depend on for their survival and for their protection.”
About 30 of the current 100 international staff members would leave the region for the time being, he said. The remaining employees and the more than 10,000 Palestinian employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) would continue their work, he added.
Dujarric said an Israeli tank was behind last week’s attack, which killed a Bulgarian UN employee and injured six other international employees.
The UN has called for an investigation. “The Israelis knew exactly where this UN facility was, and it was hit by a shell from one of their tanks,” Dujarric said.
Israel denied reports that it had struck UN buildings and urged the media to be careful with unconfirmed reports.