IDF says it hit Khan Younis hospital compound used by Hamas operatives

PM said to tell MKs: Israel destroying homes in Gaza, so Palestinians have nowhere else to go but outside the Strip

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers during closed-door testimony before the the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that Israel is “destroying more and more houses [in Gaza and Palestinians accordingly] have nowhere to return,” according to quotes from the session leaked to the media.

“The only obvious result will be Gazans choosing to emigrate outside of the Strip,” Netanyahu continued. “But our main problem is finding countries to take them in.”

Netanyahu told the lawmakers that he has discussed Donald Trump’s plan for the US to take over Gaza with the president in recent days but acknowledged that there have been difficulties in implementing it.

While Trump initially called on Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians, both countries quickly pushed back against the idea, insisting that Palestinians should be allowed to remain on their land.

Israel has also refrained from publicly assuring Gazans that those who leave will be allowed to return, further reducing the incentive for countries to take in Gazans, given the perception that they’d be interfering in a decades-old conflict over land.

Dozens who have left Gaza a pilot program for work abroad have reportedly been required to sign documents acknowledging that there is no timeline for when they can come back due to the security situation. Children who have been evacuated for medical treatment abroad have also been prevented from reuniting with their families back in Gaza after the completion of their hospital stay.

During Sunday’s Knesset committee meeting, Netanyahu claimed that despite the lack of success in finding countries to take in Gazans, the US is still interested in taking over Gaza.

Sources familiar with the matter have told The Times of Israel, however, that the Trump administration has put minimal effort into actually advancing Trump’s Gaza takeover plan since it was announced in early February following the massive pushback it received from Arab allies.

Still, Netanyahu told the lawmakers. “I know I will disappoint some people here, but we are not talking about Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip right now.”

MK Limor Son Har-Melech replied, “Bring the Jews of the United States (to settle Gaza). That way, we can kill two birds with one stone,” according to partial transcripts from the meeting leaked to the Maariv daily.

Netanyahu also briefed the committee on Israel’s plan to soon resume the distribution of aid in Gaza through a new system that aims to prevent assistance from being diverted by Hamas.

Netanyahu said that those who pick up aid from newly established distribution hubs in southern Gaza will be barred from returning to places in Gaza outside of the new humanitarian zone being set up in southern Gaza. Israel’s aid plan envisions squeezing Gaza’s entire population of 2 million people into an area in and surrounding Rafah that makes up between 10 and 25 percent of the Strip. Those entering will be vetted by the IDF, according to officials briefed on the plan.

A new organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was established in order to manage the new aid program. GHF was supposed to announce its rollout last week but has faced major setbacks after the UAE, the UN and other international bodies refused to cooperate or fund the initiative due to concerns that it doesn’t adequately address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where aid has been banned by Israel since March 2.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report.