By JULIA FRANKEL

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister has outlined plans to pack hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a closed zone of the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, according to local media reports.

It appears to be the latest version of plans by the Israeli government to maintain lasting control over the territory and relocate much of its population of some 2 million. Critics say that would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law because Israel’s offensive and blockade have made Gaza largely uninhabitable.

Israeli officials say the aim is to separate the civilian population from Hamas, which still controls parts of Gaza and holds dozens of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war 21 months ago. Palestinians would then be given the option of emigrating, they say. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he is narrowing in on a ceasefire and hopes to eventually end the war, has also voiced support for the mass transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza.

A ‘humanitarian city’ atop the ruins of Rafah

Defense Minister Israel Katz outlined the latest plans in a closed briefing with Israeli military reporters on Monday. His office did not respond to a request for comment on their reports, which appeared in several Israeli media outlets.

Katz reportedly said he had ordered Israel’s military to draw up plans to build what he called a “humanitarian city” in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, which has been heavily damaged in the war and is now largely uninhabited.

Katz reportedly said that Palestinians would not be able to leave once they enter the zone.

The military would initially move 600,000 Palestinians from an existing so-called humanitarian zone along the coast, with the aim of eventually transferring the whole population to Rafah. Katz said Israel was searching for an unspecified international body to deliver aid as Israeli troops secured the perimeter.

He said the military could start building the ‘city’ during a 60-day ceasefire that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are discussing in Washington this week.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Palestinians view Gaza as an integral part of their national homeland and oppose any plans to uproot them.

Rights groups see preparations for mass expulsion

Both Trump and Netanyahu have said Gaza’s population should be relocated to other countries through what they refer to as voluntary emigration. During their meeting on Monday at the White House, Netanyahu said Palestinians should have a “free choice” on whether to stay or leave.

Palestinians fear that even if they leave temporarily to escape the war, Israel will never allow them to return — a possible repeat of the mass exodus that occurred before and during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

Katz expressed hope that the “emigration plan” would happen and said Netanyahu was already leading efforts to find countries willing to take in Palestinians, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Rights groups fear that concentrating the population along the border with Egypt would create catastrophic conditions that leave Palestinians no choice but to leave.

“Forcing people into what amounts to a large concentration camp echoes dark chapters of history,” said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli group advocating Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement.

“Israel’s leadership hasn’t been shy about the goal to expel Palestinians from Gaza and maintain permanent control over wide swaths of the territory,” she said.

An Israeli-backed aid system is already in place

Israel and the United States have already rolled out an aid distribution program in Rafah that has been marred by violence and controversy.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed or wounded while trying to reach sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a contractor supported by Israel and the U.S., according to local hospitals.

Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire toward crowds of people heading to the sites. The military says it has fired warning shots at people who approached its forces in what it describes as a suspicious manner.

GHF denies there has been any violence in or around the sites themselves, which are in Israeli military zones off limits to independent media. Two U.S. contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues used live ammunition and stun grenades as crowds scrambled for food, allegations denied by the foundation. GHF has also denied involvement in any population transfer plans.

But in a press conference in May, Netanyahu appeared to link the two initiatives, saying Israel would implement the new aid program and then create a “sterile zone” in southern Gaza, free of Hamas, where the Palestinian population would be relocated.

Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain lasting control over Gaza and has ruled out any role for the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority, led by political rivals of Hamas.