Netanyahu’s new national security adviser presses security agencies to explain lack of progress facilitating mass migration of Gazans out of the Strip.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s newly appointed national security adviser, Shmuel Ben Ezra, called an urgent meeting this week to review efforts aimed at facilitating the departure of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, following months of little progress on this front.

According to a report published by Haaretz, the discussion centered on Israel’s policy of enabling voluntary emigration from Gaza.

Ben Ezra is said to have summoned officials with little notice, despite the continued absence of countries willing to accept large numbers of Palestinians from the territory.

Participants from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency reportedly told the meeting that they had not identified any nations prepared to receive Gazans and that there had been no meaningful progress on the matter.

“We are not aware of any country currently willing to take in Palestinians who choose to leave Gaza,” a security source was quoted as saying.

The renewed focus on emigration comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues to revisit proposals encouraging Gazans to relocate abroad.

Israeli officials have emphasized that migration is voluntary, arguing that Palestinians should have the option to move elsewhere if they choose.

In February 2025, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the creation of a special unit within his ministry tasked with managing what he called the “voluntary transfer” of Gaza residents to third countries.

The security cabinet approved the initiative the following month, stating it would align with “the vision of US President Donald Trump.”

At the time, Katz said Israel was committed to implementing that vision and ensuring that any Gaza resident wishing to relocate could do so.

He explained that the new body would coordinate with international organizations and relevant government agencies under political leadership, and would oversee logistical arrangements for departures.

Katz also argued that Gazans should have the same freedom of movement as people elsewhere.

“I welcome the bold plan of US President Donald Trump,” he said. “Residents of Gaza should be able to exercise freedom of exit and migration like anyone else. The plan will include options for departure via land crossings, as well as special arrangements by sea and air.”

He slammed Hamas for preventing civilians from leaving, noting that the group uses the population as human shields, embeds infrastructure within civilian areas, and restricts movement while exploiting humanitarian aid.

Despite Israel’s stated goal of facilitating mass migration from Gaza, the number of monthly departures remains small.

Reports indicated that talks have been held with a number of countries which could host the migrants, including Indonesia, Uganda, South Sudan, Libya, and Somaliland, though none have publicly agreed to receive significant numbers of Gazans.

With official efforts stalled, an Associated Press investigation found that the Israeli right-wing group Ad Kan had quietly helped arrange flights for Palestinians leaving Gaza for destinations including South Africa and Indonesia.

According to the report, at least three flights since May 2025 transported hundreds of Gazans abroad through an organization called Al-Majd, which presented itself as humanitarian while concealing its Israeli connections.

Trump’s earlier proposal to relocate Gaza’s population and redevelop the area as a “riviera” was widely condemned internationally and later downplayed.

His subsequent 20-point peace plan, unveiled in September 2025, called for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, Hamas’s disarmament, reconstruction, and a transitional governance arrangement under international oversight. It also emphasized encouraging Palestinians to remain in Gaza and rebuild, while maintaining their right to leave the area.

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Report claims that despite donor states pledging $17 billion, the Board of Peace fund hasn’t received any money whatsoever.

By World Israel News Staff

Donald Trump’s postwar Gaza reconstruction plan is facing new scrutiny after a Financial Times report said the official World Bank-administered fund created for his Board of Peace has not received any donor money, despite billions of dollars pledged by the US and partner governments.

The Board of Peace was launched earlier this year to oversee Trump’s Gaza plan, which called for Hamas to disarm, Israeli forces to withdraw in phases, a Palestinian technocratic committee to administer the Strip and international funds to begin rebuilding the war-damaged enclave.

But four months after its creation, the formal World Bank fund attached to the board has received no deposits, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing four people familiar with the matter.

“Zero dollars have been deposited,” one source told the newspaper.

The board has claimed that money has come through other channels.

A Board of Peace official told the Financial Times that “a number of options were established to receive funding” and that “contributors have opted to use other options.”

According to the report, donations have instead gone into a JPMorgan account controlled by the board rather than the World Bank mechanism.

The arrangement has raised oversight questions because the JPMorgan account does not carry the same reporting obligations as the World Bank-administered fund, according to the Financial Times.

The board’s spokesperson said it would report financial information to its executive board “at a time deemed appropriate.”

The funding issue follows earlier warnings that the board’s reconstruction framework was short of usable money.

In a May 15 report to the UN Security Council reviewed by Reuters, the board said “the gap between commitment and disbursement must be closed with urgency.”

“Funds committed but not yet disbursed represent the difference between a framework that exists on paper and one that delivers on the ground for the people of Gaza.”

The board has previously denied that it faces funding constraints, telling Reuters it is an “execution-focused organization that calls capital as needed” and that there “are no funding constraints.”

Reuters reported that $17 billion had been committed to the board earlier this year, including pledges from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Morocco, Uzbekistan and Kuwait.

The Financial Times report said Morocco has contributed about $20 million, which has helped fund the office of Nickolay Mladenov, the board’s high representative for Gaza, and salaries for the Palestinian technocratic committee formed to govern the territory.

The United Arab Emirates contributed $100 million for training a new Gaza police force, but the funds remain frozen and the program has not begun, according to the report.

The Times of Israel reported earlier this month that the UAE transfer was the largest received by the board to date, but that less than 1% of the $17 billion pledged had been transferred.

The proposed Gaza police force is meant to fall under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the Palestinian technocratic body intended to replace Hamas rule in the Strip.

The committee has not entered Gaza, and the police force has not begun training.

The US State Department has also committed to redirecting about $1.2 billion in aid spending toward projects aligned with the board’s agenda, but those funds have not yet been spent and are not being managed by the Board of Peace, according to the Financial Times.

A separate proposed $50 million transfer for the board’s operational costs has also not been distributed.

The board says it has begun tendering for security and reconstruction work, but no contracts have been awarded.

“A lot of it is because we’re not operating in Gaza yet,” a board spokesperson told the Financial Times, pointing to Hamas’ refusal to disarm.

Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American scholar involved in contacts with Hamas for the Trump administration, said the Palestinian committee cannot begin operating because it lacks resources.

“They know that if they go to Gaza, people are going to flood to them to ask for assistance, and they have no tools, no means,” Bahbah said.

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The Trump administration is reportedly considering pushing Israel to hand over frozen Palestinian tax revenue to help fund the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

By World Israel News Staff

The Trump administration is considering asking Israel to transfer part of the Palestinian tax revenue it is withholding to President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to help finance his post-war plan for Gaza, according to people familiar with the discussions.

No final decision has been made on whether Washington will formally raise the request with Israel, according to a report published oFriday by Reuters, citing officials familiar with US deliberations.

Palestinian sources briefed on the discussions said the proposal under consideration would direct some of the funds to a US-backed transitional administration for Gaza, while other money could be transferred to the Palestinian Authority if it carries out reforms.

The Palestinian Authority says Israel is withholding about $5 billion in tax revenue it collected on the PA’s behalf. The funds are a major source of income for the PA, which uses them to pay public-sector salaries and finance basic services in Judea and Samaria.

The possibility that Palestinian tax money could be redirected toward Trump’s Gaza reconstruction plan would mark a new point of friction over the future of the territory. It could also deepen the PA’s marginalization, even as the withholding of the money has helped trigger a severe fiscal crisis for the Ramallah administration.

Trump’s post-war plan for Gaza has been slowed by Hamas’ refusal to disarm and by continued Israeli military activity in the territory, which has strained an October ceasefire.

The plan envisions Hamas handing power to a body of Palestinian technocrats known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

A Board of Peace official declined to say whether the tax revenue proposal was under consideration, but said all parties had been asked to mobilize resources for the reconstruction plan, whose cost has been estimated at $70 billion.

“That includes the Palestinian Authority and Israel. There is no doubt that money held in a bank does nothing to further the president’s 20-Point Plan,” the official said.

Israel collects customs and other import taxes for the PA under a longstanding arrangement, along with income taxes withheld from Palestinian Authority residents employed in Israel.

But it has withheld large sums during a dispute over payments the PA makes to jailed Palestinian terrorists and to families of Palestinian terrorists killed during attacks on Israelis.

The PA announced changes to the payment system in February 2025 under US pressure, but Washington said that despite the reforms, the PA has effectively maintained the so-called “pay-to-slay” payment system. Israel has continued withholding the funds, leaving the PA unable to pay full salaries to thousands of civil servants.

The US State Department, the Israeli government and the PA did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.

Israel has accepted a US invitation to join the Board of Peace. The PA was not invited.

Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, said Wednesday in Jerusalem that reconstruction planning was moving ahead.

“We’re doing it sector by sector. We’re costing things. We’re coordinating with donors and we’re ready to begin in earnest once the conditions allow it,” Mladenov said, without addressing the tax revenue issue.

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