The Israel he does not plan to expel them Palestinians from the Gaza Stripsaid today Foreign Minister Israel Katzadding how [το Ισραήλ] will coordinate his plans for hundreds of thousands of refugees in the city of Rafah with the neighboring Egypt.

The deep-seated concern that Palestinians may be driven out of the Gaza Strip looms large for both the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors after Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

Israel is preparing to attack Rafah and sources have said that contingency plans are being made in Egypt to host Palestinians if the situation becomes critical.

Katz said Israel had no alternative but to enter Gaza as militants from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas were using the city as cover.

“We have no intention of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip,” Katz said, adding that Israel does not want to rule Gaza when its war against Hamas, which rules the enclave, ends.

“Israel does not want to hit any Palestinian civilians, so we are moving them to safe zones while Hamas is trying to prevent it. We have no intention of governing civilian life in Gaza after the war. Our purpose is to ensure that Gaza will “dematerialized,” he said.

When asked where the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the city would go, Katz suggested that once Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis, is cleared of Hamas fighters, they could return there or to the western part of the enclave.

Western officials and aid agencies have warned that forcing refugees into Egypt would be a disaster, Katz appeared to downplay that option and said Israel was discussing how to remove refugees with the United States but would also coordinate with Egypt.

“We will deal with Rafa after we talk to Egypt about it. We will coordinate it, we have a peace agreement with them and we will find a place that will not harm the Egyptians,” Katz said. “We will coordinate everything and not harm their interests.”