In a rare public display of disagreement with Israel, the United States has rejected calls by top Israeli officials that the Palestinian population should be removed from Gaza.<\/p>\n
Asked about Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz\u2019s<\/a> call for de-populating Gaza as the only \u201csolution\u201d to the crisis, the US State Department reiterated Washington\u2019s commitment to President Donald Trump\u2019s 20-point \u201cpeace plan\u201d that established the \u201cceasefire\u201d last year.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cAs explicitly stated in Point 12 of the President\u2019s plan: \u2018No one will be forced to leave Gaza and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza\u2019,\u201d a State Department spokesperson told Al Jazeera in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States does not support any plan or proposal for the forced displacement, expulsion, or mandatory transfer of the population of Gaza,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Katz had said that Trump had only \u201cfrozen\u201d \u2013 not cancelled \u2013 his support for removing Palestinians from the territory, a proposal that rights advocates say would amount to ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end, there is no real solution for Gaza without this migration,\u201d Katz said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Israeli officials have been using \u201cmigration\u201d as a euphemism for de-populating Gaza.<\/p>\n Katz said the Israeli government is ready to get Palestinians out of Gaza \u201cby sea, by air and by any means to do it\u201d and the idea is still \u201cbeing discussed all the time\u201d.<\/p>\n National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir echoed Katz\u2019s statements the following day.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of illusions of peace now, we need actions of emigration now,\u201d Ben-Gvir said. \u201cInstead of [Palestinians] digging tunnels, it\u2019s time to pack suitcases.\u201d<\/p>\n Arab states, including some close allies of the US, have forcefully rejected any effort to remove Palestinians from their land.<\/p>\n The White House referred Al Jazeera to a social media post by Trump in August celebrating an agreement to disarm Hamas.<\/p>\n The deal would include gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the almost daily deadly attacks on the territory.<\/p>\n But Israel rejected<\/a> the proposal, saying that it would not make any concessions until Gaza is fully demilitarised.<\/p>\n Last year, Trump stirred international outrage when he first floated ethnically cleansing Gaza<\/a> \u2013 home to around two million people \u2013 and turning the enclave into \u201cthe Riviera of the Middle East\u201d.<\/p>\n He appeared to drop the proposal later in 2025 as he put forward his 20-point plan to end the conflict.<\/p>\n Both Hamas and Israel agreed to Trump\u2019s ceasefire deal last October, but Israel has continued its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n US envoy and Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met Hamas<\/a> officials and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month to help resolve the crisis.<\/p>\n But Kushner appeared to adopt the Israeli government position, saying that there would be no reconstruction<\/a> in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed. He also stressed that the US would not \u201crestrict Israel\u2019s right to defend itself\u201d amid continuing Israeli attacks in Gaza.<\/p>\n Despite Hamas agreeing to give up its weapons, little progress has been made on Trump\u2019s \u201cceasefire\u201d plan.<\/p>\n Israeli officials\u2019 insistence on removing Palestinians from Gaza could further complicate the negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cAny movement must be strictly voluntary and our focus remains on the demilitarisation, stabilisation and redevelopment of Gaza for the benefit of its residents,\u201d the State Department told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cFurthermore, Point 20 commits the United States to establishing a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence.\u201d<\/p>\n The US has provided Israel with more than $25bn since the start of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza<\/a> in October 2023.<\/p>\n Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine\/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington, DC, said the reason there has been no movement on peace is that Israelis have \u201ccome to the conclusion that there cannot be coexistence in this space with Palestinians\u201d.<\/p>\n He warned that the push to ethnically cleanse Palestinians extends beyond Gaza to the West Bank and Palestinian citizens of Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t want to live with Palestinians of any form,\u201d Munayyer told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n