RSS
Israel Considers Plans for ‘Day After’ Gaza War Without Hamas
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Considerations of what will happen in Gaza should Israel achieve its war aim of fully incapacitating the ruling Hamas terror group have taken center stage in Israel’s public discourse, as well as in meeting rooms of Israeli decision makers in government.
One idea that has recently gained more traction is the voluntary resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza. The Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, is considering absorbing thousands of Gaza refugees seeking a home outside the war-torn Palestinian enclave, according to Zman Israel, the Times of Israel‘s Hebrew sister site.
“Congo will be ready to receive immigrants, and we are in negotiations with other countries,” the report said, quoting a senior government official.
Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel outlined her plan for the voluntary resettlement of Gaza Strip residents at a meeting of Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset, on Tuesday. She presented a map showing the “new” Gaza after the war, which Hamas launched with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
“Hamas’ rule will collapse. There will be no municipal government. The civilian population will be completely dependent on humanitarian aid,” Gamliel said. “There will be no employment, and 60 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land will become security buffer zones.”
Gamliel argued that international support and an aid package for refugees would be essential, adding, “The mobilization of the international community is required to create a pool of countries that will take in refugees while receiving an aid package for them.”
Some Israeli ministers have also reportedly debated asking Saudi Arabia to accept hundreds of thousands of Palestinians for work, many of whom could join the country’s booming construction workforce.
The plan of Gazans voluntarily emigrating elsewhere was introduced in the earliest days of the war but quickly shot down by the US and European countries. However, it has picked up steam in recent days.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich voiced support for such a plan earlier this week, when he told Israel’s Channel 12: “We need to encourage immigration from there [Gaza]. If there were 100,000-200,000 Arabs in the Strip and not two million, the whole conversation about the day after would be completely different.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also promoted the idea at his party’s faction meeting, called it the most “humane solution.”
In response, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller blasted the idea. “The United States rejects recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza,” he said. “This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible. We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the prime minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also voiced his opposition, telling War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz that the remarks are “unacceptable and against a two-state solution.”
Smotrich shot back on Wednesday morning, tweeting, “More than 70 percent of the Israeli public today supports a humanitarian solution of encouraging the voluntary immigration of Gazan Arabs and their absorption in other countries, understanding that a small country like ours cannot afford a reality where four minutes away from our settlements there is a hotbed of hatred and terrorism.”
Ben-Gvir also pushed back, adding, “I really appreciate the United States of America, but with all due respect we are not another star on the American flag. The United States is our best friend, but first of all we will do what is best for the State of Israel: the migration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow the residents of the enclave to return home and live in security and protect the IDF soldiers.”
The Israeli cabinet was set to meet on Wednesday to discuss plans for a post-war Gaza, but it was postponed until Thursday evening due to pressing security concerns surrounding potential escalations in fighting after the assassination of Hamas leader Salah al-Aruri in Lebanon on Tuesday.
The post Israel Considers Plans for ‘Day After’ Gaza War Without Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.