130 Gazans leave for Europe, South America

“We are working with all means to implement the U.S. president’s vision, and we will allow any Gaza resident who wants to move to a third state to do so.”

By JNS

Some 130 Palestinians left the Gaza Strip on Wednesday through Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

Around 110 Gazans flew to France, while the remainder will settle in Bosnia and Chile, according to Channel 12 News, which cited Israeli officials.

On April 1, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel visited Ramon Airport to inspect “the voluntary departure process” of Palestinians from Gaza.

“Dozens of Gazans were flown to Leipzig, Germany, on a designated flight accompanied by German diplomats today,” said the Population and Immigration Authority, part of the Interior Ministry, also on April 1.

“Since the beginning of the initiative, hundreds of Gazans have been flown to a third country, most of them to Germany, Romania and the United Arab Emirates,” the government body stated at the time.

The Security Cabinet on March 22 approved Defense Minister Israel Katz’s proposal to establish a directorate within the ministry to facilitate the voluntary emigration of residents from the Strip.

Katz stressed that the initiative aligns with the vision of U.S. President Donald Trump, who is seeking to turn the 25 miles of Gaza’s coastline into a real estate development and relocate some 2.2 million residents.

“We are working with all means to implement the U.S. president’s vision, and we will allow any Gaza resident who wants to move to a third state to do so,” stated Katz last month.

A survey published in the British Telegraph last month revealed that 52% of Palestinians from Gaza, or more than 1.1 million people, would leave the Strip either temporarily or permanently if given the opportunity.

Demographic analysis revealed that residents under the age of 34 and those living in the most heavily damaged areas of Gaza City and Khan Younis in the south expressed the strongest interest in leaving.

On March 19, a group of 70 Gazans left for various European countries through Ramon Airport. These Palestinians or their family members already held foreign passports, facilitating their resettlement abroad.