Israeli minister of military affairs Israel Katz has ordered the regime’s army to prepare a plan forcing the “voluntary departure” of Palestinian from the Gaza Strip.

Katz’ instruction on Thursday followed President Donald Trump’s contentious proposal to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza and have the US take over the war-ruined enclave.

“I have instructed the IDF (military) to prepare a plan to enable voluntary departure for Gaza residents,” the Israeli mistier said in a statement.

Katz specified that he had told the Israeli army to make preparations that “would allow any Gaza resident who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to accept them.”

“The plan will include exit options through land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air,” Katz added.

Katz said he welcomed “Trump’s bold plan, which could allow a large portion of Gaza’s population to relocate to various places around the world.”

‘Trump can go to hell’

Trump’s Gaza proposal has drawn widespread criticism from various international rights groups as well as world countries like Russia, China and Germany, which said it would foster “new suffering and new hatred.”

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza have pledged to never leave the ruins of their homes in the coastal territory.

“Trump can go to hell, with his ideas, with his money, and with his beliefs. We are going nowhere. We are not some of his assets,” said Samir Abu Basel, the father of five, who has been displaced from his house near Jabalia on Gaza’s northern edge.

“If he wants to resolve this conflict he should take the Israelis and put them in one of the states [in America]. They are the strangers, not the Palestinians. We are the owners of the land,” Basel told Reuters.

“He spoke with much arrogance…he can test us, and soon he will find out his fantasies don’t work with us.”

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior official of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, also said Trump’s statement about taking over the territory was “ridiculous and absurd,” adding, “Any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region.”

A ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel took effect on January 19, 2025, aiming to end the Israeli regime’s more than 15 months of genocide against the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, with the number rising as more bodies are pulled out from rubble.

Despite signing a ceasefire agreement, Israel has continuously violated it through daily airstrikes, sniper attacks, and aid blockades—while Hamas has been committed to the deal.