Israel’s Minister of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, presented on Thursday a plan to displace 1.86 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip over seven years as part of his party Otzma Yehudit’s election campaign.
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The plan—called Disconnection 710, referring both to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and the attacks by Palestinian militias on October 7, 2023—aims to promote the “voluntary migration” of 1.86 million Gazans over seven years.
Ben Gvir states that this is not a “forced expulsion” of the population, but a strategy to offer residents of the Palestinian enclave the option to migrate to host countries with legal status, financial support, and integration plans.
To this end, he proposes the creation of a ministry dedicated exclusively to what he has termed “voluntary emigration,” which would have its own minister, budgets, and operational capacity to coordinate agreements with destination countries.
The document proposes the “voluntary” departure of 250,000 Gazans in the first year, 1.11 million in the third year, scaling up to 1.86 million people over a seven-year period. Departures would be based on family reunification, employment, education, or medical and humanitarian reasons.
The plan would also require an initial investment of 10 billion new shekels (around three million euros), followed by up to 50 billion new shekels in matching funds linked to international participation, and payments to host countries based on the number of Gazans they receive.
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“For years Israelis were told there is no solution, no option, and that they must learn to live with the threat. I refuse to accept this. The role of leaders is not to explain to society why it cannot be done; their role is to set a goal, build capacities, and change reality,” the minister argued.
The proposal considers integration measures for applicants, including housing coverage, healthcare systems, education, or employment during the first two years. It also proposes prioritizing family departures and creating an independent advocate on the voluntariness of the process, as well as monthly reports and external audits.
Ben Gvir has defended that the initiative “will allow Gaza’s citizens to live a life away from terrorist organizations, which seriously affect their quality of life.” “The time has come to stop managing the problem. The time has come to solve it,” he said.
“The success of the plan will not be measured by the number of planes that take off, but by the number of people who have a real chance at a new life elsewhere and by the number of Israeli children who can grow up without the constant threat of massacres, rockets, and terrorism,” he argued.
