America is Complicit.

The World Must Stop It.

Van Hollen, Merkley Report Following 2025 CODEL [congressional delegation] to Gaza Border, Israel, West Bank, Jordan, and Egypt

INTRODUCTION

The Netanyahu government has not kept its goals secret in Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government have made the removal of Palestinians from Gaza a strategic aim of the war. Netanyahu said that Israel is “destroying more and more homes, and Gazans have nowhere to return to. The only inevitable outcome will be the wish of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip.” 1 Finance Minister Smotrich has said, “Gaza will be totally destroyed” and that Palestinians there would be “totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places.” 2

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has called Gaza a “failed experiment,” backed President Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians,3 and said, “What you call Palestine – this is the land of Israel.” 4 National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said, “We must not stop for even a moment. We need to achieve a full victory, occupy all of Gaza, stop humanitarian aid, and encourage migration, not partial deals.” 5 The National Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has said, “the government is rushing to erase Gaza, and thank God we are erasing this evil. All of Gaza will be Jewish.” 6

These are not the isolated comments of an out-of-power fringe group. They are statements from key officials – all members of the Netanyahu government – who are shaping Israel’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and beyond. During our week-long visit to Israel, the West Bank, the border of Gaza, Jordan, and Egypt, the facts demonstrated overwhelmingly that Israel is putting these words into action by implementing a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians and dealing a death blow to the vision of a future Palestinian state that would include Gaza and the West Bank. In Gaza, the Netanyahu government is implementing its goal through the near-total destruction of civilian infrastructure and its use of food as a weapon of war. These policies are part of a calculated effort to drive Palestinians out of Gaza by making it impossible for them to live there. Any talk of “voluntary departures” is a cruel hoax. Departure is not “voluntary” when the conditions needed to support life are extinguished.

From the horrific October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks against Israel until today, we have never wavered in our belief that Israel has a right, indeed a duty, to defend its people and ensure that there cannot be a repeat of that terrible day. It is clear, however, that the Netanyahu government’s war has gone far beyond targeting Hamas to imposing collective punishment on all of the people of Gaza. Moreover, whatever Israel’s original war aims may have been, they now include the removal of Palestinians from Gaza. That is ethnic cleansing. But for the fact that Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab countries have prevented such displacement, it may well have already become the reality.

FOOTNOTES

1 “Benjamin Netanyahu: Emigration from Gaza Blocked by Host Countries: The Jerusalem Post.” The Jerusalem Post | JPost.Com, 11 May 2025, www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-853568.

2 Bowen, Jeremy. “Netanyahu’s Plan for Gaza Risks Dividing Israel, Killing Palestinians and Horrifying World.” BBC News, BBC, 6 May 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd020j97l79o.

3 “Trump Fuels Fury and Fear in the Middle East after Vowing to ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, 5 Feb. 2025, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/donald-trump-gaza-take-over-netanyahu-israel-war-hamas-rcna190744.

4 Magid, Jacob. “‘What You Call Palestine, Is the Land of Israel,’ Sa’ar Tells Palestinian Reporter at Munich Confab | The Times of Israel.”, The Times of Israel , 14 Feb. 2025, www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/what-you-call-palestine-is-the-land-of-israel-saar-tells-palestinian-reporter-at-munich-confab/.

5 Arnaout , Abderaouf, and Ikram Kouachi. “Israel’s Ben-Gvir Renews Call to Occupy Gaza, Encourage Palestinian Migration.” Anadolu Ajansı, 7 Mar. 2025, www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-s-ben-gvir-renews-call-to-occupy-gaza-encourage-palestinian-migration/3620645.

6 “Solomon , Avi. “All of Gaza Will Be Jewish, Israeli Heritage Minister Says: The Jerusalem Post.” The Jerusalem Post | JPost.Com, 24 July 2025, www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-862117