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The Israeli defense minister said Thursday that he had ordered Israel\u2019s military to draft a plan to allow Gazans to voluntarily leave the enclave, a move that comes after President Trump\u2019s proposal for a massive resettlement of Palestinians<\/a> and a U.S.-led takeover of the territory. <\/p>\n It was far from clear whether the proposal would be carried out, where the Israeli authorities hoped the Gazans would go, or how many people they imagined would leave. <\/p>\n But Israel Katz, the defense minister, praised Mr. Trump\u2019s initiative, saying it could \u201callow a large population in Gaza to leave for various places in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Katz said his plan for Gazans to leave the enclave would include \u201cexit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.\u201d He made no mention of whether they would be allowed to come back home after the war. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump argued that the roughly two million Palestinians in Gaza should leave during a joint news conference with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. <\/p>\n He also proposed that the United States \u201ctake over\u201d and \u201cown\u201d the Gaza Strip, although administration officials later tried to soften his comments<\/a>. <\/p>\n The plan has evoked furious opposition across much of the world<\/a>, and some critics have argued the moves could amount to ethnic cleansing if implemented.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a fantasy to think that ethnic cleansing in the 21st century can be condoned,\u201d Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief, said<\/a> in an interview on Wednesday with CNN. \u201cThe problem in Palestine is not the Palestinians \u2014 it is the Israeli occupation,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n In devastated Gaza, many vowed to remain<\/a> despite the hunger, cold and fear of renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas. Both sides are currently observing a six-week truce \u2014 the first stage of a cease-fire deal mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States \u2014 and there is no guaranteeing how long it will hold. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But Mr. Trump\u2019s statements have already prompted celebrations among Israel\u2019s far-right<\/a>, many of whom have long promulgated so-called \u201cvoluntary emigration\u201d as the solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. <\/p>\n In the weeks after Hamas\u2019s Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war, Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s aides lobbied<\/a> its allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom, to pressure Egypt to admit hundreds of thousands of Gazan civilians. <\/p>\n Israel\u2019s partners largely dismissed the proposal, in part because they feared the Israeli authorities would not allow Gazans to return home after the war. <\/p>\n Senior members of Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s hard-line coalition government have publicly called for Israel to rule the territory indefinitely and build Jewish settlements there. <\/p>\n Many modern wars have generated waves of refugees. But Gazans, unusually, have mostly been trapped inside the Palestinian enclave with little way out. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n More than 100,000 left in the first several months of the war before Israel conquered the border crossing with Egypt, shuttering the gateway. That left roughly two million still in the Gaza Strip, many of them displaced and living in tents. <\/p>\n Many Palestinians have resisted leaving: the mass displacement of their parents and grandparents in the wars surrounding Israel\u2019s 1948 establishment remains one of their greatest collective traumas. <\/p>\n But neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan<\/a> have also shown little interest in taking them in, treating them as an economic burden and a source of potential domestic upheaval. <\/p>\n During an interview with Fox News on Wednesday evening, Mr. Netanyahu said that Palestinians could \u201crelocate and come back\u201d if necessary. <\/span>\u201cThe actual idea of allowing Gazans who want to leave to leave \u2014 I mean, what\u2019s wrong with that?\u201d he said. \u201cThey can leave, they can then come back.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Katz, the Israeli defense minister, argued that countries like Spain and Norway, which have been critical of Israel\u2019s conduct of the war in Gaza, were obligated to take them in or else \u201ctheir hypocrisy would be exposed.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares, Spain\u2019s foreign minister, appeared to shoot down the idea in an interview with the country\u2019s public broadcaster on Thursday morning. <\/p>\n \u201cGazans\u2019 land is Gaza and Gaza must be part of the future Palestinian state,\u201d said<\/a> Mr. Albares. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n