Ben-Gvir unveils voluntary Gaza emigration plan, vows implementation after election

Itamar Ben-Gvir, national security minister and chairman of the Otzma Yehudit Party, presented on Thursday his party’s “Disengagement 7/10” plan, aimed at allowing the voluntary emigration of Gaza Strip residents to countries willing to accept them.

He discussed the plan’s objectives in a recorded message issued to the press.

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The program’s main goal is to enable the voluntary departure of approximately 250,000 Gazans in the first year, approximately 1.11 million within three years, and approximately 1.86 million within seven years, according to a later statement issued by the party.

To implement the policy, Otzma Yehudit is demanding the next government establish a dedicated ministry for voluntary emigration, headed by a minister and operating through a director-general, an independent budget, an international negotiating team and a dedicated execution apparatus.

“Instead of illusions of peace now, we need acts of emigration now,” Ben-Gvir said. “Instead of digging tunnels, the time has come to pack suitcases. Instead of working in terrorism, the time has come to find work abroad and build new lives.

“In the last war, the State of Israel achieved significant successes against Gazan terrorism. These achievements came at a difficult and painful price; a terrible, awful price paid in the blood of our sons. God forbid that the blood of our sons and daughters be in vain. We must seize this historic opportunity to bring about a historic solution,” he said.

“I state aloud my commitment to the people of Israel: to advance this plan, with God’s help, in the next term,” the minister pledged.

The program was devised by a team under Ben-Gvir’s office, according to the statement. The team studied the issue of emigration, examined international models, data, legal and economic aspects, absorption options in various countries, and ways to turn the idea of voluntary emigration into an organized government implementation plan.

Turkey, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Arab states are being examined as possible destinations, along with additional countries.

The plan proposes an initial Israeli investment of 10 billion shekels (~$3.32 billion) to establish and launch the apparatus, alongside an Israeli matching framework of up to 50 billion shekels (~$16.6 billion), contingent on international participation and agreements with recipient countries.

Trump’s relocation plan ‘frozen—not canceled’

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said that plans for emigration from Gaza were still under consideration.

“There is no real solution for Gaza in the end. The Migration Directorate is prepared to make it happen by sea, by air and in any way possible. Egypt is not willing for it to happen through its territory,” Katz relayed at a conference hosted by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth.

“Eighty percent want to emigrate. We constantly check this in surveys,” he continued, adding that Hamas is preventing departures from the Strip, “and there are no countries in the world willing to take them in.”

He elaborated that “every country that is willing [to take them in] wants American backing.” U.S. President Donald Trump, who raised the voluntary emigration idea in February 2025, has only “frozen” it, not canceled it, Katz said.

Illuminating some of what went on behind the scenes after Trump first conveyed the relocation idea, the defense minister said, “All the Arab countries came to him, under pressure over this issue, and said, ‘We’ll give you whatever you want—investments. We’ll give you the disarmament of Hamas in exchange for a freeze.’

“This has not been canceled; it is still being discussed, including now. And I think that, in the end, there is no other solution that is in everyone’s interest. For this to happen, we need the United States—and the moment will come when it becomes clear that Hamas is not fulfilling its commitment. Then we will get the green light to move forward militarily, territorially and in other areas as well,” Katz said.

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