Netanyahu tours Gaza front as Katz says emigration plan remains on the table

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that plans to facilitate the departure of Palestinians from Gaza remain under consideration despite being frozen for now, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured IDF positions inside the enclave and said Israel intended to maintain its hold along the Yellow Line. Speaking at the “Decision Time: Democracy and Society” conference hosted by ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth in cooperation with the Israel Democracy Institute, Katz said Israel was prepared to enable Gazans to leave by sea, air or other routes, but that Egypt was unwilling to allow such movement through its territory. “There is no real solution for Gaza in the end. The Migration Directorate is ready to do this by sea, by air and by any means. Egypt is not willing for it to go through its territory,” Katz said. Katz raised the issue after Ofer Winter, chairman of Amcha Yisrael, expressed support for emigration from the Gaza Strip and described it as the solution. “Eighty percent want to emigrate. We are constantly checking this in surveys,” Katz said. “Hamas does not allow it and there are no countries in the world willing to take them in. What is delaying this is that the countries willing to take them in want US support.” Katz said countries potentially willing to receive Palestinians from Gaza were seeking American backing before moving forward. “Every country that is willing to take them in wants American backing. Trump has not canceled this at the moment — he has frozen it,” he said. Katz claimed Arab governments had pressured US President Donald Trump to halt the initiative. “All the Arab countries came to him, pressured him on this issue and said, ‘We will give you whatever you want — investments. We will agree to Hamas being disarmed in exchange for freezing this,’” he said. “It has not been canceled. It is being discussed all the time, including now, and I think there is no other solution in the end that is in everyone’s interest.” Katz said advancing the plan would ultimately require US support and argued that a future failure by Hamas to uphold its commitments could open the way for broader Israeli action. “For this to happen, we need the United States — and the moment will come when it becomes clear that Hamas is not honoring its commitment. Then we will get the green light to advance militarily, territorially and in other areas as well,” he said. At the same time, Netanyahu visited an IDF post inside the Gaza Strip near the Yellow Line, which separates territory controlled by the Israeli military from areas under Hamas control. He was accompanied by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor and Brig. Gen. Elad Tzuri, commander of the 99th Division. Netanyahu received a briefing from commanders on IDF activity along the line, operational missions in the area and efforts to remove threats. “We control the territory and are staying on this line,” Netanyahu said. “We are doing everything to achieve our goal — disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza. Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.” Standing at the military position, Netanyahu pointed toward Israeli communities visible from the area. “We control the territory here — you can see Ashkelon there, you can see all our communities in every direction: Sderot, Netivot and the kibbutzim,” he said. Katz also described Israel as holding what he called “strategic control” over Gaza, while acknowledging that Hamas continued to operate in parts of the enclave. “There is still work to do, but about 70% of the territory is essentially deserted. There are no residents, no homes and no tunnels,” he said. “Ninety percent [of it] had an astonishing scale of tunnels that no one knew about. Day and night, we are thwarting the tunnels according to our directives and defending the borders, including the Philadelphi Corridor, where we prevent weapons from being smuggled.” “Therefore, we have strategic control over Gaza,” Katz said. “Hamas still exists in the enclave covering 30-something percent [of the territory], but we have strategic control there. The policy is to act forcefully — we thwart [threats] every day.”