Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has been raging for 11 months. The official death toll is over 40,000, but estimates put it well into the hundreds of thousands. The intensifying famine and the lack of sanitation, clean water and medicine have led to mass deaths among the elderly, the wounded, newborns and the chronically ill.
Gaza has become such a death trap that even if Israeli bombing stopped tomorrow, the death toll would continue to rise for years. Simply trucking in more food would not be enough to stop the mass death toll.
Without clean water, toilets, sewage disposal and treatment systems, functioning hospitals, and an environment decontaminated from pathogens and poisons from Israeli bombs, people will continue to die from communicable diseases, chronic illnesses, and pollution.
Israel and its supporters have used these concerns to promote “solutions” that involve the mass expulsion and dispossession of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
The Palestinians have categorically rejected such plans, and rightly so. There is, however, a way to effect a temporary evacuation to allow for the cleansing and rebuilding of Gaza and the preservation of the health and well-being of its population, without involving their relocation outside of historic Palestine. This can be done by relocating the population of Gaza to areas near what is now Israel, which have the infrastructure to support the temporary relocation of a large population.
No more exile: Palestinians must stay in Palestine
Evacuation, even temporary, is a thorny issue for Palestinians precisely because the unlivable conditions in Gaza were openly and deliberately created by Israel and its Western allies to force the population into exile.
Last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the need to “minimize” the Palestinian population in Gaza, and his Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, raised the possibility of reducing it to below 200,000 through emigration. “Our problem,” Netanyahu said, “is to find countries willing to accept them, and we are working on that.”
Israel has repeatedly proposed exiling the Palestinian population to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Canada, countries deemed particularly suitable. Israeli government ministers, their American allies and the compliant media have all openly endorsed these plans.
Last year, the White House asked Congress for funding to help “Gazans fleeing to neighboring countries,” while U.S. officials reportedly outlined a plan for a tent city in El Arish, Egypt.
Cairo has been under enormous pressure from Israel and its allies to accept Palestinians into the Sinai, but has so far rejected the plan. Palestinian factions across the political spectrum have condemned any suggestion of expelling Palestinians from their homeland.
Recognizing the injustice of the expulsion, we, along with other Palestinians and Israeli anti-Zionists, have called for a temporary, voluntary evacuation within historic Palestine. Instead of exiling Palestinian survivors of the war to other countries, we propose that they be housed in temporary housing in other parts of historic Palestine within Israeli borders while Gaza is rebuilt.
There is already a legal basis for such a displacement. Let us recall that 74% of the population of Gaza is composed of refugees and descendants of refugees from historic Palestine and that they have the right to return.
In December 1948, a year after the start of the Nakba, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 194, which guaranteed the right of return for Palestinians expelled from their homes by Israeli forces. This right is also enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted the same month. The Pinheiro Principles, introduced in 2005, provide guidance on how to implement the restitution of housing and property to returning refugees.
Israel’s admission as a UN member state in 1949 was conditional on the implementation of Resolution 194, which has never been respected. It is time to correct this mistake.
Evacuation within Palestine: a just solution
Although the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to what is now Israel will be a challenge, certain circumstances will make it easier.
First, there is space. About 88% of Israeli territory is controlled by the military, is devoted to nature reserves or is vacant; 87% of Israelis live on less than 6% of the territory.
Second, there are many suitable sites with existing road, water, sewer and electricity infrastructure that can be rapidly expanded, as research by Palestinian scholar Salman Abu Sitta demonstrates.
UNRWA and other local aid agencies, such as the Palestine Red Crescent, may size and distribute shelter and humanitarian assistance. Such assistance will be funded by Israel and its allies, taking into account their obligations under international law to provide for the needs of the population it occupies, as reaffirmed in the recent advisory decision of the International Court of Justice.
It is important to note that decent housing does not mean concentration camps in the Negev desert. During the relocation and reconstruction phase, the population of Gaza can maintain access to their existing homes in Gaza and have the right to move freely.
An international force can be deployed in Israel to protect both Palestinians and aid sent to them from Israeli attacks. The creation of such a force for the occupied Palestinian territory has already been suggested by the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, in her March 2024 report, and by South Africa last October. It is important to note that this should not mean an occupation by forces from any country.
The reconstruction of Gaza must be controlled by the Palestinian people and their political leaders. The population of Gaza must be employed in all necessary construction work in Israel and in the reconstruction of Gaza, which will take several years, as many reports by UN agencies have emphasized.
The question of who should “control” Gaza in this process was already addressed in the Beijing Declaration, signed in July by 14 Palestinian factions. They committed to unite under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and create an interim reconciliation government to carry out the reconstruction of Gaza and prepare for elections.
The Israeli government will likely resist such a relocation plan, which is why the UN must use all its means and tools of coercion – including sanctions and suspension of membership – to force it to accept and fulfill its legal obligations. This is the least the UN can do to begin to correct the mistakes it made in 1947 and after.
Exile is traumatic, complex, costly, and unjust. Evacuation within historic Palestine, over the fence, is simple, effective, walkable, and just. International law gives us all the tools we need to save lives in Palestine while respecting the Palestinian right of return.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.