"Voluntary migration plan?????????????"

Netanyahu backs Trump’s Gaza "take over" as Israeli defense minister instructs military to draw up voluntary migration plan

From CNN's Lucas Lilieholm, Michael Schwartz and Helen Regan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed President Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to “take over” Gaza, as his defense minister instructed the Israeli military to draw up a plan that would enable the “voluntary departure” of Palestinian residents in Gaza.

“This is the first good idea that I’ve heard. It’s a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued, and done because I think it will create a different future for everyone,” Netanyahu said of Trump’s plan for the future of Gaza in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday.

“The actual idea of allowing first Gazans who want to leave to leave, I mean, what is wrong with that?” he asked, adding that Palestinians who left could come back after reconstruction was complete.

On Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz directed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare a plan “to enable the voluntary departure of Gaza residents,” according to the Defense Ministry statement.

“I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to enable the voluntary departure of Gaza residents,” Katz said.

“I welcome the bold initiative of US President Trump, which could allow a large portion of Gaza’s population to relocate to various destinations worldwide.”

Katz said Trump’s plan “will take many years,” during which Palestinians would be integrated “into host countries while facilitating long-term reconstruction efforts in a demilitarized and threat-free Gaza in a post-Hamas era.”

Trump’s plan flies in the face of the aspirations of Palestinians, who have long advocated for statehood and roundly dismissed Trump’s relocation proposal when he first floated it two weeks ago.