'Depravity' Internment camp likely to be illegal and unviable

The Israeli defence minister's plans for an internment camp on the ruins of Rafah mark an escalation beyond incitement to war crimes, already a mainstay of Israel's political discourse, to operational planning for mass forced displacement.

- Emma Graham-Harrison

Israeli lawmakers including cabinet ministers have repeatedly called for the "cleansing" of Gaza after Hamas's cross-border attacks on 7 October, backing the forced deportation of Palestinians to other countries and new Israeli settlements in the territory.

However, Israel Katz was the first senior cabinet member to lay out, in a briefing on Monday to Israeli media, measures to implement the displacement of Palestinians from most of Gaza. He said he had given orders to plan a "humanitarian city" to hold Palestinians who would not be allowed to leave.

Some would be moved to other countries, Katz said. Israeli officials describe this as "voluntary" departure but the conditions in Gaza mean no displacement inside the territory or departure from it can be seen as consensual in legal terms, human rights lawyers say.

Michael Sfard, one of Israel's leading human rights lawyers, said: "This is not an expression of opinion or desire. Katz ordered the army to prepare. It has more meaning, because this guy holds the administrative power to actually do it."