Ben Gvir to Unveil $20bn Plan to Force 1.86 Million Palestinians From Gaza Over Seven Years

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is scheduled to unveil a plan on Thursday that Israeli media describe as designed to "encourage voluntary emigration" from Gaza. He has named it Disengagement 710.

According to Israeli media reports cited by Middle East Eye, the plan sets explicit numerical targets: 250,000 Palestinians forced out of Gaza within the first year, 1.11 million within three years, and roughly 1.86 million by the end of a seven-year programme. Gaza's total population before the war was estimated at around 2.2 million.

The reported cost is more than $3bn in year one and about $20bn over the full seven years. The plan reportedly calls for expulsions to Turkey, Ethiopia, Congo, and unnamed Arab states, contingent on those countries agreeing to accept the displaced population. It would also require, according to the reports, the creation of a new ministerial post with its own director general, budget, and an international negotiating team to secure host countries.

Ben Gvir, who leads the Otzma Yehudit party, is expected to make adoption of the plan a condition for joining any future governing coalition. He currently sits in the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The announcement follows public remarks a day earlier by Defence Minister Israel Katz at a conference hosted by the Israeli outlet Ynet in cooperation with the Israel Democracy Institute.

"There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without migration," Katz said. "What's delaying it is that the accepting countries want US support. Every country that is willing wants American backing. Currently, President Trump didn't cancel this; he froze it. All the Arab countries came to him due to their pressure on this matter."

Katz's remarks indicate that mass displacement from Gaza is being discussed at the cabinet level as a policy outcome awaiting US diplomatic backing, not a fringe position confined to Ben Gvir's party.

The proposal follows Israel's destruction or damage of more than 80 percent of homes, businesses, schools, universities and hospitals in Gaza, according to widely documented assessments, alongside continued restrictions on food and water and ongoing killings of Palestinians despite an October ceasefire.

At the end of June, Israel had already rebranded an earlier version of the displacement framework from "voluntary migration" to a "Freedom of Movement Plan," a version that contains no right-of-return provisions for Palestinians who leave.

The specific figures, destinations, and cost estimates in Ben Gvir's plan are drawn from Israeli media reporting cited by Middle East Eye and have not yet been confirmed through an official government document or budget filing.