Israel’s Rafah Camp plan: Humanitarian safe zone or blueprint for ethnic cleansing?

Israeli War Minister Israel Katz has proposed a controversial plan to transfer 600,000 Palestinians to a so-called humanitarian zone in the ruins of Rafah, southern Gaza.

According to the plan:

- Access will be controlled through strict security checks;

- The area will be sealed off by the Israeli military;

- Residents will not be allowed to leave;

- Eventually, it may hold all 2.1 million people in Gaza;

- Construction is expected to begin during the proposed 60-day ceasefire currently under negotiation with Hamas.

A plan rooted in illegality and inhumanity

This plan has been slammed as illegal and inhumane, carrying the risk of worsening the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Forced displacement and confinement of civilians under occupation constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law. Under the Rome Statute, such actions amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Major international bodies — including the UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council, and the Red Cross/Red Crescent — have all condemned the forced transfer of civilian populations during armed conflict.

While Katz claims this camp is a “humanitarian city” aimed at protecting civilians, international law is clear: military necessity does not justify the removal or suffering of civilian populations.

He also suggested that international humanitarian organizations would be tasked with delivering aid and services inside the camp.

But Israel has a long record of ignoring international court orders — including those demanding access for humanitarian aid into Gaza. Aid organizations now face a serious ethical dilemma:

Should they operate in a context that undermines their neutrality, enables potential war crimes, and legitimizes illegal displacement?

This so-called "humanitarian city" may in fact become an open-air prison, with Palestinians entirely dependent on international aid and under strict Israeli military control.

A step toward mass expulsion?

The deeper concern is whether this Rafah encampment is a precursor to mass expulsion of Gaza's population.

Katz has publicly mentioned plans for a "migration initiative", implying long-term forced relocation of Palestinians to other countries — a practice clearly prohibited under international law as ethnic cleansing.

Changing the demographic makeup of a territory through the displacement of its indigenous population is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.

While Israel has long viewed the displacement of Palestinians as a strategic option, this explicit announcement reflects an alarming escalation and intent to permanently alter Gaza’s demographics.

Though the plan frames relocation as “voluntary,” the reality is that Gaza’s population has been displaced multiple times, over 90% of homes have been damaged or destroyed, and vital infrastructure (health, water, sanitation) has collapsed.

Under such dire circumstances, consent cannot be considered voluntary — especially not when the alternative is death, starvation, or total confinement.

What the Israeli war minister proposes is not a humanitarian measure — it is a clear, strategic framework for ethnic cleansing. The international community must not be complicit in sanitizing this plan with humanitarian language.