Two Former Israeli Prime Ministers Reject Plans For Gaza ‘Humanitarian City’

Multiple Israeli politicians have condemned the decision made by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to construct a “humanitarian city” for the Palestinians living in Gaza, media reports said.

It includes two former prime ministers of Israel, Yair Lapid and Ehud Olmert, who said the new city would be like a “concentration camp” for the Palestinians.

Lapid, who was the Israeli prime minister for about six months in 2022, said that the new plan to build the “humanitarian city” will yield “nothing good,” reports added.

He added that calling the “humanitarian city” a “concentration camp” is not preferable, but if the Palestinians won’t be allowed to exit, then it would be a “concentration camp.”

What Is The Humanitarian City For Gaza Residents?

The “humanitarian city” is expected to host around 600,000 Palestinians who are living in the southern part of Gaza, the Israeli government said.

But Israel plans to shift the entire Gaza population of more than two million to the city, local media reports noted.

Images captured by satellites have shown that Israel is ramping up the demolition of buildings in Rafah in a bid to create space for making the new city.

Reports said that around 28,600 buildings have been reduced to dust by the Israeli authorities in Rafah.

Another former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, dismissed the plan and said it is nothing but a “concentration camp.”

Why Are Global Rights Groups Against Humanitarian City For Gaza?

Saying that if the Palestinians “will be deported” into the “humanitarian city,” he noted that the process would be called “ethnic cleansing.”

Olmert added that the Israeli government wants to “deport,” “push,” and “throw” the Palestinians out of Gaza, reports said.

Meanwhile, rights groups across the world have said that the new city would set the base for ethnic cleansing of Gaza residents, media reports noted.

The chief of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, took note of the Israeli plans and asked if it will be a “second Nakba” for the Palestinians.

Nakba is an Arabic term for the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinians from their land when Israel was formed in 1948.

He stated that the plan would “deprive Palestinians of any prospects of a better future in their homeland.”

Also Read: Israel-Gaza Conflict Death Toll Crosses 58,000 As Civilian Casualties Surge