A tent camp sheltering forcibly displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Sept. 4, 2026. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
Israel's defense minister Israel Katz said Wednesday it was only a matter of time before the country resumes its full-scale war on Gaza and moves to force out its two million Palestinians.
Katz made these comments in response to criticism from another right-wing contender ahead of the Oct. 27 parliamentary elections.
Katz said 70% of Gaza had already been emptied of its population in the Israeli offensive launched in October 2023.
He said that an October 2025 "cease-fire" brokered by the U.S. had "supreme value for all Israelis" by leading to the return of remaining hostages and ensuring "a commitment by the United States" to disarming Hamas.
"We all understand that this is not going to happen — and the [Israeli army] is prepared, once given the directive to eliminate Hamas, to finish the job so that we can also implement the migration plan," Katz said in a statement, referring to the Israeli military.
He said earlier this month that Israel was ready to remove Palestinians from Gaza by sea and land but was waiting for the United States, which he said was discussing where the two million people would go.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee has denied any plan to "displace people out of Gaza against their will."
Katz had described the migration plan as voluntary, saying most Palestinians wanted to leave.
Nearly all of Gaza's population has been internally displaced and most of the territory lies in rubble. Israel's genocidal war has killed more than 73,700 Palestinians.
While the 11-month-old "cease-fire" has reduced the level of violence, Israel still regularly carries out strikes on Gaza, killing at least 1,375 Palestinians since the nominal truce went into effect.
Hamas said in late July that it was ready to disarm, in what Trump hailed as a breakthrough, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the latest stage of the plan and said there would be no Israeli withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas verifiably decommissions all its weapons.