Israel is “organised and prepared” to remove Palestininians from Gaza “by every way possible”, Defence Minister Israel Katz told reporters Wednesday, adding that there was no alternative “solution” to crisis. The Israeli government was simply waiting for the US to figure out where to take the displaced Gazans, he said.

Israel has plans ready to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip but is waiting for the United States to figure out where to take them, the defence minister said Wednesday.

“There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration,” Defence Minister Israel Katz told a conference hosted by Israeli news site Ynet and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The Israeli government “is organised and prepared to get them out – by sea, by air, by every way possible”, he said.

The US embassy referred requests for comment to the State Department in Washington.

US President Donald Trump, at the start of his second term, stunned much of the world by calling for all two million Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip.

Trump spoke of developing the Mediterranean territory, devastated by Israeli bombardment since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, into a luxury resort destination.

Trump walked back the idea following strong pushback, including from Egypt – the only country other than Israel to border Gaza.

The proposal was also condemned by Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the “Nakba”, or catastrophe – their mass displacement during Israel’s creation in 1948.

Announcing a Gaza war ceasefire in October, Trump laid out 20 points for the territory that included no forced displacement.

Katz, known for his outspoken remarks, said that Trump had only “frozen” the idea as he looks for countries to take in Palestinians, given that Egypt is not an option.

“The plan hasn’t been cancelled; it is being discussed all the time, even now, and I think there is no other solution for everyone’s good,” he said.

Read More: Israel ‘organised and prepared’ to remove Gaza population if US gives green light, Katz says