The Israeli plan to transfer Gaza residents to a so-called "humanitarian city" has sparked a wave of anger and sharp criticism, described as a prelude to large-scale forced displacement.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz revealed details of the plan during a press briefing, explaining that it calls for the creation of a closed zone in the southern Gaza Strip from scratch during a potential 60-day truce.
The plan's first phase aims to relocate approximately 600,000 displaced Palestinians to the area, along with the establishment of four aid distribution centers run by international organizations. According to Katz's statements, the entire population of Gaza will be relocated later.
Residents of the Gaza Strip will undergo security screening in the "humanitarian city" to ensure they are not affiliated with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and once they enter the area, they will not be allowed to leave.
Local and international criticism
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ) described the project as a "concentration camp," while Amnesty International warned that the plan amounts to a war crime.
For his part, British Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Hamish Falconer, said he was "shocked" by the Israeli plan, stressing that Palestinian lands should not be reduced nor should residents be prevented from returning to their homes.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also announced on Sunday his opposition to Israel's plan to establish what it calls a "humanitarian city" in Rafah. In statements to German broadcaster ARD, Merz stressed that he has been dissatisfied for weeks with the Israeli government's practices in the Gaza Strip.
Meretz explained that he had repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction and that he had also discussed these issues with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for his responsibility for committing war crimes in Gaza.
According to Israeli media, the proposed city will be built between the Philadelphi and Morag axes near the Egyptian border and will later serve as the first stage in the displacement of residents from the Gaza Strip under what the government calls "voluntary migration."
Division within Israel
Inside Israel, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir attacked the proposal, warning that it would divert the army from its two primary goals: defeating Hamas and recovering the captives in the Gaza Strip.
Security officials described it as a "giant tent city" that could lead to the return of military rule to Gaza, according to Israel's Channel 12.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid launched a sharp attack on the plan, describing it as a bad idea from every security, political, economic, and logistical perspective.
Israeli Army Radio quoted Lapid as saying that the army itself opposes the plan, believing it presents Israel with only one option: to remain in Gaza.
Lapid added that creating a fenced-in area housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would effectively amount to establishing a "concentration camp," and asked incredulously, "How will this be implemented? Will we keep 600,000 people within a fenced-in area?"
The projected cost of the initiative, estimated at between 10 and 20 billion shekels (equivalent to $3 to $6 billion), has sparked public outrage at home, given the mounting economic cost of the nearly two-year-old war.
Michael Milstein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer, described the "humanitarian city" plan as one of the "delusions" promoted by the Israeli leadership.
Milstein, who heads the Palestine Studies Program at Tel Aviv University, said the proposed area lacks any basic infrastructure, raising doubts about its ability to provide even the most basic services, such as electricity and water.
He also explained that Israel is moving toward "crazy ideas" instead of developing realistic, implementable policies. He added, "No one is telling the Israeli public the price, nor the economic, political, and security consequences of reoccupying Gaza... The cost will be extremely high."
He pointed out that the Israelis' realization that the war's goal is to reoccupy Gaza could spark major internal social unrest.
Legal warnings have also been issued within Israel, with 16 international law scholars sending a warning letter to the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff, arguing that the plan could constitute a war crime under international humanitarian law.
These developments come amid an ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, which has resulted in the martyrdom and injury of more than 196,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in addition to thousands of missing persons and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
