Israeli Plan to Displace 1 Million Palestinians Sparks Fear Across Gaza

Panic and despair spread across Gaza on Sunday after the Israeli military revealed preparations to forcibly relocate around one million Palestinians from Gaza City.
The announcement comes just days after Israel signaled a renewed offensive aimed at seizing the enclave’s largest urban center. The plan has drawn widespread international concern and follows a new round of airstrikes that, according to Gaza’s health ministry, killed at least 40 people on Saturday, including civilians in tents and others waiting for humanitarian aid.
Israel Confirms Preparations for Mass Relocation
In a statement, the Israeli Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said:
“Based on the directives of the political leadership, and as part of IDF preparations to transfer civilians from combat areas to southern Gaza for their safety, the provision of tents and shelter equipment will resume starting tomorrow [Sunday].”
The equipment, Israel noted, would be delivered through the Kerem Shalom crossing by the United Nations and other humanitarian groups after Israeli inspection.
Meanwhile, an Israeli TV channel aired recently recorded conversations in which a top general allegedly declared that “50 Palestinians must die for every Israeli killed on October 7,” dismissing whether the casualties were children. The remarks, though undated, were reported to have been made in the months following the Hamas-led attack.
Adding to Gaza’s plight, the U.S. State Department announced it would no longer issue visas to Palestinian children requiring urgent medical care abroad. The decision reportedly followed pressure from right-wing commentator Laura Loomer, a close ally of Donald Trump, who openly identifies as an Islamophobe.
Growing Humanitarian Fears
For Palestinians already displaced multiple times by the conflict, the looming relocation is seen as yet another devastating blow. Many live in tents, destroyed homes, or makeshift shelters, lacking food, medicine, and clean water.
“We are already broken—physically, mentally, emotionally. We have no strength left,” said Akram Shlabia, 85, from Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood. “Now they want us to move south into nothingness, into a place without safety or even the basics of life.”
Mazen Hasaneh, 40, displaced six times since the war began, said the hardships of relocation are almost unbearable.
“Even moving requires money people don’t have. Drivers demand high prices to transport tents or belongings. Then there’s no guarantee of finding land to set up shelter or access to food and water. Every part of displacement is suffering.”
Some families have already begun relocating south in anticipation, while others refuse to leave, fearing worse conditions. Asma al-Barawi, a 34-year-old mother of seven, said she would remain in Gaza City.
“I lost my home and nearly my entire family. I will not leave again. Those who went south told us their suffering was far worse than ours here.”
Escalating Violence
In recent days, heavy bombardments echoed across Gaza. Israeli artillery and ground incursions intensified east of the city, including strikes near the Sabra neighborhood.
On Saturday, a two-month-old baby and her parents were killed when an airstrike hit a tent in al-Muwasi, a zone Israel itself had previously labeled a “humanitarian area.”
“Two and a half months old—what did she do?” asked neighbor Fathi Shubeir. “They were in a safe zone. Civilians. And yet they were killed.”
Al-Muwasi, already overcrowded after previous displacements, now faces the threat of becoming a new battlefield. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to expand operations not only in Gaza City but also in al-Muwasi and central refugee camps like Nuseirat and Bureij.
The Gaza Civil Defense reported that at least 13 Palestinians were shot dead Saturday while queuing for food aid. The health ministry also recorded 11 deaths from malnutrition within 24 hours, bringing the total number of starvation-related deaths to 251, many of them children.
Mounting Protests Inside Israel
In Israel, frustration is also boiling over. On Sunday, thousands of protesters filled the streets of Jerusalem demanding a hostage deal. Demonstrators blocked highways, lit bonfires, and gathered outside politicians’ homes, accusing the government of neglecting the hostages’ fate.
Police responded with water cannons and made at least 38 arrests.
“We don’t win wars over the bodies of hostages,” protesters chanted, voicing fear that Israel’s new offensive could endanger the estimated 20 hostages still alive in Gaza.
A War With No End in Sight
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began—most of them women and children. Thousands remain missing beneath rubble, and many more are dying from hunger and disease caused by Israel’s blockade on aid.
The proposed mass displacement of Gaza City’s residents threatens to deepen the humanitarian catastrophe, leaving civilians trapped between bombardments, hunger, and forced relocation—without a clear path to safety.