Netanyahu Permits Palestinians to Exit Gaza Amid Renewed Truce Efforts

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated he would “allow” Palestinians to exit the Gaza Strip as military operations gear up for a more extensive assault on the area.

Previous suggestions for relocating Gazans outside their conflict-ridden homeland, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, have raised alarms among Palestinians and received criticism from the global community.

In defense of his strategic decisions, Netanyahu spoke to Israeli media shortly after Egypt announced that mediators are intensifying efforts to establish a 60-day ceasefire.

“We are not forcing them out, but we are giving them the option to leave,” Netanyahu explained to Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS.

“Provide them the chance to exit, particularly from combat areas, and generally to leave the territory, should they choose to.”

In the Gaza Strip, Israel has for years tightly controlled the borders and barred many from leaving.

“We will allow this, first of all within Gaza during the fighting, and we will certainly allow them to leave Gaza as well,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu has backed Trump’s earlier proposal this year advocating for the relocation of over two million Gazans to Egypt and Jordan, with certain far-right Israeli officials calling for their “voluntary” exodus.

Cairo ceasefire talks

Israel’s plans to expand its offensive into Gaza City come as diplomacy aimed at securing an elusive ceasefire and hostage release deal in the 22-month-old war has stalled for weeks, after the latest round of negotiations broke down in July.

Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, announced Egypt was “working very hard now in full cooperation with the Qataris and Americans”, aiming for “a ceasefire for 60 days, with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees, and the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions, without conditions”.

According to two Palestinian sources speaking to Agence France-Presse, a high-level Hamas delegation is expected to engage in discussions with Egyptian authorities on Wednesday.

One of the Palestinian sources earlier said the mediators were working “to formulate a new comprehensive ceasefire agreement proposal “that would include the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza in one batch”.

Mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the US have failed to secure a breakthrough since a short-lived truce earlier this year.

Intensified strikes

News of the potential truce talks came as Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Gaza City in recent days, following the security cabinet’s decision to expand the war there.

Netanyahu’s government has not provided an exact timetable on when forces may enter Gaza City, but civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said on Tuesday air raids had already started increasing over the past three days.

“The bombardment has been extremely intense for the past two days. With every strike, the ground shakes,” said Majed al-Hosary, a resident of Gaza City’s Zeitun neighbourhood.

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday killed five Al Jazeera employees and a freelance reporter outside a Gaza City hospital.

Gaza’s civil defence agency says Israel has increased its bombardment of Gaza City in recent days. Source: AP / Jehad Alshrafi

Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack in 2023, in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government. More than 61,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages — 49 people, including 27, the Israeli military says, are dead — as well as over his plans to expand the war.