Israel Defense Minister Army tells about preparing to move Palestinians from Gaza: NPR

A man passes by a house that is partly standing, but with sheets serving as provisional walls and solar panels that partially function in an area largely destroyed by the Israeli army’s air and earth offensive in Gaza City on Wednesday.

Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Hide caption

Change caption

Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Israeli Defense Minister asks the military to prepare to implement President Trump’s plan to move Palestinians from Gaza.

Defense Minister Israel Katz says the military must prepare exit options for land, sea and air, so anyone who wants to go to “any country willing to accept them.”

However, Katz is already getting pushback from one of the countries he called to accept refugees. He says Spain, Norway, Ireland and other countries that have criticized Israel’s actions during its war against Hamas should take them in.

“Their hypocrisy will be postponed if they refuse to do so,” Katz said in a statement.

Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares responded to the Spanish national radio.

“Spain makes its own decisions … No third party has to tell what to do,” he said, adding that Gaza should be part of a future Palestinian state.

Trump floated the idea of ​​the United States “taking over” the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, calling for Gaza’s entire population to be moved to other countries and for the land to be rebuilt.

“We want to own it … We have an opportunity to do something that can be phenomenal … Riviera in the Middle East,” he said. “We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them who want to do this and build different domains that will eventually be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza , which ends death and the destruction and, frankly, unbeat.

In an interview Wednesday about Fox News, Netanyahu called President Trump’s proposal for an American takeover of Gaza a “remarkable idea” to “be pursued.”

“I think it will create another future for everyone,” Netanyahu said.

Trump’s proposal has been met with resistance from Arab and Palestinian leaders who hope Gaza and the West Bank may be part of a future Palestinian state.

Hamas, the Islamist group that governs Gaza and is regarded as a terrorist group of Israel and most Western countries, urged Trump to pull out his “irresponsible statements” on Wednesday and said they “pouring oil on the fire.”