Suppose there is a complete exodus of the Palestinian community from Gaza where would they permanently settle ?
Israel has conducted a genocidal war on Gaza for the past 11 months. The official death toll has surpassed 40,000 people; however, estimates suggest it may be significantly higher, reaching into the hundreds of thousands. Escalating famine, coupled with inadequate sanitary conditions, contaminated water, and insufficient medical supplies, has resulted in mass death among the elderly, injured, newborns, and others with chronic illnesses.
The situation in Gaza has become so perilous that even if Israeli bombardments cease immediately, the casualty figures will continue to rise for years to come. Merely transporting additional food would not prevent widespread death.
In the absence of clean water, sanitation facilities, sewage disposal and treatment, operational hospitals, and an environment free from pathogens and toxins resulting from Israeli bombardments, individuals will persist in succumbing to communicable diseases, chronic ailments, and pollution.
Israel and its advocates have leveraged these issues to advance "solutions" that include the mass expulsion and dispossession of the Palestinian populace in Gaza.
Palestinians have unequivocally dismissed such schemes, and justifiably so. Nonetheless, there is a way to carry out a temporary evacuation to facilitate the cleanup and reconstruction of Gaza while safeguarding the health and wellbeing of its inhabitants without necessitating their departure from historic Palestine. That can be done by rehousing Gaza’s population to nearby areas within present-day Israel, equipped with the necessary infrastructure to accommodate a substantial temporary population.
For Palestinians, the idea of any kind of evacuation, no matter how short-lived, is fraught with tension because Israel and its Western allies have made Gaza an intolerable place to live in order to drive the population into exile.
In the previous year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to "thinning" the Palestinian population in Gaza "to a minimum," while his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich suggested reducing it to below 200,000 via emigration. “Our problem,” stated Netanyahu, “is finding countries willing to accept them, and we are working on it.”
Numerous Israeli proposals have suggested the expulsion of the Palestinian population to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Canada. Israeli government officials, their American counterparts, and complicit media have all explicitly supported these projects.
Last year, the White House requested Congressional funding to support "Gazans fleeing to neighboring countries," while U.S. officials allegedly proposed a plan for a tent city near El Arish, Egypt.
Cairo has faced significant pressure from Israel and its supporters to permit the resettlement of Palestinians in Sinai, although it has consistently declined these proposals. Palestinian factions from various political affiliations have denounced any plans to remove Palestinians from their homeland.
In acknowledging the injustice of expulsion, I, among other Palestinians and anti-Zionists, call for a temporary and voluntary evacuation within historic Palestine. Instead of banishing Palestinian war survivors to foreign nations, I propose that we offer them temporary housing within Israeli borders in other regions of historic Palestine as we rebuild Gaza.
A legal foundation for such relocation already exists. It is important to note that around 74 percent of Gaza's population consists of refugees, and their descendants are from historic Palestine, who possess the right to return.
In December 1948, one year after the onset of the Nakba, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 194, which affirmed the right of return for Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes by Israeli forces. This right is further enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in the same month. The Pinheiro Principles, established in 2005, provide advice for the implementation of housing and property restitution for returning refugees.
Israel's admission as a member state to the UN in 1949 was conditional upon the execution of Resolution 194, which it has not accomplished. Now is the time to rectify this mistake.
Relocating Palestinians from Gaza to present-day Israel will pose challenges; yet, certain circumstances may assist the process.
First of all, there is space. Approximately 88 percent of Israel's land is under military control, designated as nature reserves, or vacant; 87 percent of Israelis live on less than 6 percent of the state.
Second, numerous appropriate locations possess existing roads, water, sewage, and electrical infrastructure that may be rapidly augmented, as evidenced by the studies of Palestinian researcher Salman Abu Sitta.
UNRWA and other local aid organizations, such as the Palestine Red Crescent Society, can effectively scale and deliver shelter and humanitarian assistance. Israel and its allies will bear the financial responsibility in accordance with their obligations under international law to support the occupied population, as underlined by the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
Notably, adequate housing does not equate to concentration camps in the Naqab desert. During the process of rehousing and reconstruction, the people of Gaza should maintain access to their existing homes and possess the right to move freely.
An international force may be stationed within Israel to safeguard both Palestinians and the humanitarian assistance directed to them from Israeli assaults. In her March 2024 report, UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine Francesca Albanese had previously proposed the establishment of such a force for the occupied Palestinian territories, and South Africa did the same in October of the previous year. Notably, this should not imply occupation by any country's military forces.
The Palestinian populace and their political authorities should govern Gaza's reconstruction. The people of Gaza ought to be engaged in essential construction projects in Israel and the extensive, multiyear reconstruction of Gaza, as detailed in many UN agency reports.
The issue of who should exercise authority over Gaza during this process has already been addressed in the Beijing Declaration, adopted in July by 14 Palestinian factions. They pledged to unite under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and establish a provisional reconciliation government to facilitate reconstruction in Gaza and organize elections.
The Israeli government is expected to oppose such a relocation plan, necessitating that the UN must employ all its authority and enforcement mechanisms—including sanctions and membership suspension—to compel it to adhere to its legal duties. This is the minimum the UN can undertake to begin rectifying the mistakes it committed in 1947 and later.
Exile is a terrible, difficult, expensive, and unjust experience. Evacuation within historic Palestine, beyond the barrier, is simple, efficient, and fair. International law provides us with the necessary instruments to preserve life in Palestine by realizing the Palestinian right of return.