Jerusalem, September 16
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that it was only a matter of time before Israel resumes a full-scale war in Gaza and moves ahead with a plan to remove the territory’s Palestinian population.
Katz, known for his outspoken statements, made the remarks while responding to criticism from another right-wing contender ahead of Israel’s October 27 elections.
He said around 70 percent of Gaza had already been emptied of its population during Israel’s military campaign launched after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Katz said the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump in October 2025 had “supreme value for all Israelis” because it resulted in the return of the remaining hostages and included a US commitment to the disarmament of Hamas.
“We all understand that this is not going to happen,” Katz said in a statement. “The IDF is prepared, once given the directive to eliminate Hamas, to finish the job so that we can also implement the migration plan.”
The Israeli military is known as the IDF.
Katz said earlier this month that Israel was prepared to remove Palestinians from Gaza by land and sea but was waiting for the United States, which he said was discussing possible destinations for the territory’s roughly two million residents.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has denied that Washington has any plan to “displace people out of Gaza against their will.”
Katz has described the proposed migration plan as voluntary, claiming that most Palestinians want to leave Gaza.
Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced internally during the conflict, while much of the territory has been reduced to rubble.
More than 73,700 killed in Gaza
The Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. It was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
Militants also abducted 251 people and took them hostage in Gaza.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,700 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under Hamas authorities and does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry’s casualty figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
An 11-month-old ceasefire has reduced the intensity of fighting, but Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 1,375 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect.
Hamas said in late July that it was prepared to disarm, a development Trump described as a breakthrough.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has rejected the latest stage of the ceasefire plan, saying Israel will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas verifiably decommissions all its weapons.
