Israel Katz says Palestinians will leave Gaza

Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Wednesday that Palestinians will leave Gaza.

"There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without migration," Katz told journalist Moran Azoulay at a conference hosted by Israeli outlet Ynet in cooperation with the Israel Democracy Institute.

"The moment will come. When will it come? When it becomes clear that Hamas is not meeting its commitment. Then we will get a green light to move forward militarily, territorially, and in other areas, and this thing will gain momentum," Katz said, referring to moving the Palestinian population out of Gaza.

"By the way, 80 percent want to migrate, it's checked constantly in surveys," Katz claimed.

In May, Israeli media reported on a survey conducted by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), which found that "nearly 80 percent" of Gazans surveyed "said they were interested in receiving information about mechanisms for relocating to a third country through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings". Cogat is a unit of Katz's own defence ministry.