On Wednesday, the Biden administration’s envoy for the humanitarian situation in Gaza said that Palestinians from northern Gaza who fled to the south in recent weeks “must be allowed to return to homes in the north as soon as possible.”
On Tuesday, a senior Israeli official briefing reporters on the recently inked hostage deal stressed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had blocked the inclusion of a clause that would have allowed for Palestinians who evacuated to the south at Israel’s behest to return to the north, where the IDF still plans to continue operating after the several days’ pause in hostilities expires.
It is also not clear that many of those who fled south will be able to return once the fighting ends, as much of the area has been destroyed by the war.
In an interview with the Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed, David Satterfield reiterated the US position against the displacement of Palestinians. Recent proposals from right-wing and even centrist Israeli lawmakers have called for countries around the world to take in Gazans and promote their voluntary resettlement. READ MORE
