Tensions ran high in the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet on Sunday after Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir presented a yearlong plan to build a humanitarian city in southern Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly rejected the proposed timeline outright, demanding a much faster solution. Ministers echoed his frustration, accusing the military of stalling. "This is an Italian strike. The army is dragging its feet," one minister said after the meeting, using a term for deliberate slowdown as a form of protest. "There are much more realistic alternatives."
The humanitarian city in Rafah was first announced by Defense Minister Israel Katz on July 7. The project envisions a massive tent compound in the Rafah governorate, between the Philadelphi Route and the Morag axis in southern Gaza. Designed to accommodate the relocation of civilians and distribute humanitarian aid, the area is meant to operate outside the control of the Hamas terrorist organization and in tandem with efforts to promote emigration from Gaza.
According to Katz, the first phase would see approximately 600,000 Palestinians relocated to the site, with the entire Gaza population eventually expected to be transferred there. The compound would include infrastructure, tents and permanent structures, and is estimated to cost between 10 billion and 20 billion shekels ($2.7–$5.4 billion). Entry into the area would be subject to screening procedures, and movement would be strictly one-directional — people would not be allowed to leave once inside. The primary objective is to sever Hamas from the civilian population and to facilitate Palestinian emigration to other countries.
While Netanyahu has instructed Zamir to fast-track the initiative, the chief of staff has warned of the risk of losing control over the situation if rushed.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert harshly criticized the proposed city in an interview with The Guardian, describing it as tantamount to a concentration camp. "It's a concentration camp. I'm sorry," Olmert said, in response to Katz's plan. He argued that forcibly transferring Palestinians to the new zone would amount to ethnic cleansing. "If Palestinians are expelled into the new humanitarian city, then one could say that it's part of an ethnic cleansing campaign," he said. "That would be the inevitable interpretation of any attempt to create a camp for hundreds of thousands of people." Olmert went further, claiming that Israel is already committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank and that establishing such a camp would mark a serious escalation.
