The "main problem" preventing Gazans from leaving the Strip is with the countries where they would emigrate to, not Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday.
"We are destroying more and more homes, and Gazans have nowhere to return to. The only inevitable outcome will be the wish of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip," he added.
This also marked the first time that Netanyahu referred to plans for distributing humanitarian aid at the committee, as he stated that receipt of aid would be conditional on Gazans who receive aid not returning to the areas from which they came.
This, according to Netanyahu, is due to Gazans from these areas mixing with Hamas terrorists.
However, this contradicts what has been said so far in the committee by representatives of the IDF, the National Security Council, and the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories.
According to the more widely known plan for distributing aid, family representatives will arrive at the aid distribution points to then be able to gather aid and deliver it to their families.
Netanyahu also referred to the post-war period and clarified that the US is interested in the territory of the Gaza Strip.
"I know I will disappoint some people here, but we are not talking about Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip right now," he stated.
"Bring the Jews from the United States, this way we'll hit two birds with one stone," MK Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit) retorted.
Trump's plan for permanent Gazan emigration
In February, US President Donald Trump stated that a plan for the emigration of Gazans and the reconstruction of the enclave would begin after the war, including mentioning that emigration would be "permanent."
Trump, at the time, suggested that Egypt and Jordan would be the main countries receiving Gazans, but other Muslim countries, including Indonesia, were also being considered.
In March, Israel began to take concrete steps, including the establishment of a dedicated team to address the issue, with both headquarters and field work to provide support for actions the US would take, especially on the international stage.
The goal of this plan was to assist all Gazans who wish to emigrate temporarily or permanently to a third country that would accept them.
Meanwhile, foreign organizations continue to help dozens of families leave for Europe and other countries.
The plan received significant backing from a survey conducted among Gazans, which revealed that about half of them wished to emigrate.