Said Amori
29 June 2026•Update: 29 June 2026
Israeli political and security officials replaced the term “voluntary migration” with “Free Movement Plan” when referring to plans to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to Israel’s Channel 13, amid international concerns over forced displacement.
Citing unnamed informed sources, Channel 13 said instructions were circulated to relevant bodies, including security and intelligence institutions, “to reintroduce the initiative using language deemed more acceptable internationally.”
Sources involved in contacts with concerned countries “expressed optimism that the change in terminology could help shift those countries’ positions and revive the plan after earlier setbacks,” the channel added.
A senior Israeli official, whose name was not disclosed, acknowledged that Hamas “still exists” in the Gaza Strip and that Israel is seeking to push “as many Palestinians in Gaza as possible” to leave.
In April, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked his international affairs adviser, Caroline Glick, with advancing plans to relocate Palestinians, including contacts with the breakaway region of Somaliland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, though those efforts yielded no results.
Channel 12 also reported in December 2025 that the security establishment had presented the government with a plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza by land, sea, and air, while contacts with several countries failed to produce any agreement.
Israel has repeatedly framed the displacement of Palestinians under the concept of “voluntary migration,” while the ongoing war, widespread destruction, and tightened blockade in the Gaza Strip have drawn repeated warnings from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and Arab states against forced displacement.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023 has killed over 73,000 people, injured over 173,000 and caused massive destruction to about 90% of the enclave's infrastructure.
*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul
