Netanyahu will discuss plan to displace Gazans starting October with Rubio next week: Reports

CAIRO – 12 September 2025: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to review a widely-condemned proposal to facilitate the departure of Gaza residents from the besieged territory starting in October with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Israeli reports.

The US secretary is reportedly set to pay a several-day visit to Israel in the wake of President Donald Trump’s remarks on the necessity for the Gaza war to end because “it’s hurting Israel.”

The initiative, framed as “voluntary emigration,” was the focus of a high-level Israeli security and cabinet meeting held Thursday, the office of one of the attendees told The Times of Israel.

The plan envisions enabling Gazans to exit the coastal enclave by air and sea beginning in October, according to Israeli media reports.

Israel is reportedly in preliminary contact with several African nations that may be willing to receive the displaced population.

Skepticism within Gov't

The initiative drew skepticism from within Netanyahu’s own cabinet. Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich questioned the viability of the plan, raising doubts about whether any country would agree to host Gazans long-term, according to Channel 12.

In response, Netanyahu reportedly downplayed the financial burden of the plan but maintained that it should proceed regardless.

Egypt and Jordan have long rejected a proposal by US President Donald Trump to transfer Palestinians to both Arab countries, warning of these plans' devastating impact on the Palestinian cause. The global community, including the European Union, has also condemned the displacement plans.

Netanyahu drew fresh condemnation from Egypt after stating in a recent interview that he could allow the people of Gaza to leave through the Rafah crossing, but Egypt will “immediately block” them.

Netanyahu claimed that Egypt is “imprisoning against their will residents in Gaza who want to leave a war zone.”

'War Crime, Ethnic Cleansing'

Egypt’s foreign ministry stated that Netanyahu’s statements are part of ongoing efforts “to prolong the escalation in the region and entrench instability, in an attempt to avoid facing the consequences of Israel’s violations in Gaza, both domestically and internationally.”

Egypt reiterated its firm rejection of “any forced or voluntary displacement of the Palestinian people from their land,” condemning Israel’s “continued targeting of civilians, civil infrastructure, and various aspects of daily life to compel Palestinians to leave.”

Amid recent reports regarding Israeli consultations with certain countries to accept the displacement of Palestinians, Egypt previously called for nations to “refrain from complicity in this immoral crime,” which constitutes “both a war crime and an act of ethnic cleansing.”

To facilitate the displacement scheme, the Israeli military has intensified attacks on Gaza City, home to nearly half of the enclave’s population, striking high-rise towers and pushing residents to evacuate to a so-called humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi in the south, closer to the border with Egypt.

Heavy War Toll

Since the start of the war in October 2023, the Israeli forces have killed 64,718 in Gaza and injured 163,859 more in one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern history, according to the enclave’s health ministry.

Israeli forces are making life in Gaza impossible, destroying residential buildings, hospitals, and basic facilities, and attacking people near humanitarian aid distribution centers operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A total of 2,465 people were killed while seeking aid and 17,948 more were wounded, according to the ministry.

As famine was confirmed in Gaza in August by a UN-backed report, the ministry reported a total of 411 deaths, 142 of them children, due to malnutrition and starvation due to Israeli heavy restrictions on aid deliveries.