[News] Israel's 'Population Relocation Unit' to oversee ethnic cleansing of one million Palestinians

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Israel's 'Population Relocation Unit' to oversee ethnic cleansing of
  one million Palestinians

Israel is expelling the entire population of Gaza City ahead of a major 
ground invasion to destroy the city

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

AUG 21, 2025 - 
https://thecradle.co/articles/israels-population-relocation-unit-to-oversee-ethnic-cleansing-of-one-million-palestinians

(Photo credit: AFP via Getty Images)

In the coming days, the Israeli army is set to begin one of the largest 
forced expulsion campaigns of its war on Gaza, with the help of a 
special military unit established for the task, the Population 
Relocation Unit.

In advance of a major invasion of Gaza City, the army plans to force 
approximately one million people residing there to evacuate and move 
south beyond the Netzarim Corridor.

“The complex evacuation operation is managed by Southern Command's 
Population Relocation Unit, whose existence is revealed here for the 
first time,” /Israel Hayom /reported 
<https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/08/20/inside-the-idfs-plan-to-relocate-1-million-gazans/>on 
21 August.

“The unit is responsible for mapping the population, gathering 
intelligence on it, and coordinating actions to facilitate its movement 
– distributing leaflets, sending text messages, and, ultimately, firing 
artillery shells, which send the clearest message to residents that they 
must evacuate,” the Israeli newspaper wrote.

“In the current war, the unit was already prepared for micro-level 
management of the operation,” said Brig. Gen. (res.) Erez Weiner of 
Israel's Southern Command.

“This includes the process of notifications, who issues them, when, and 
how, as well as monitoring and verifying that there is a response on the 
other side and that the population is actually moving,” Weiner said.

The army carried out similar mass expulsion campaigns in towns in north 
Gaza, as well as in Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern part of the 
strip. Once evacuated, the towns and cities were flattened by Israeli 
bombs and bulldozers, making the return of the population impossible.

Following the first mass expulsion in north Gaza, “Images of Palestinian 
convoys trudging along the coast and Salah al-Din Road with their 
belongings were broadcast worldwide, earning headlines in Palestinian 
media as a ‘second Nakba,’” /Israel Hayom/ added.

The Population Management Unit is tasked with providing limited food, 
water, and tents to Palestinians to “convince” them to move south.

“To convince them to move, you need to use not only a stick but also a 
carrot,” a former military source speaking with /Israel Hayom/ said.

“You can't start moving a population and then say, ‘Oops, there aren't 
enough tents,’” the same source said. “That's why Israel is already 
preparing the infrastructure for the evacuation.”

After destroying the UNRWA aid distribution system, providing covert 
support to Palestinian gangs looting UN trucks, and establishing the 
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Israel now controls the flow of 
humanitarian aid reaching south Gaza.

International aid agencies said 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/aid-groups-warn-israel-blocking-all-shelter-supplies-for-gaza>on 
20 August that they have not been able to deliver shelter materials into 
Gaza, despite Israeli claims last month that restrictions on such 
supplies had been lifted.

By controlling not only how much aid is distributed and when, but also 
where it is distributed, Israel can control where Palestinians are 
displaced to, in preparation for their final expulsion.

Gaza's Health Ministry said on 18 August that 1,965 people have been 
killed 
<https://www.newarab.com/news/gaza-death-toll-surpasses-62000-hamas-accepts-truce-proposal>while 
seeking aid from aid convoys or killed close to aid distribution sites.

The ministry reported that as of 19 August, at least 266 people have 
starved 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/18/israel-starving-gaza-hundreds-of-deaths-including-many-children?utm_source=chatgpt.com>to 
death in Gaza, including 122 children.

Israel developed plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza to pave the way for 
building Jewish settlements. A leaked document 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/leaked-israeli-plan-to-ethnically-cleanse-gaza>from 
Israel's Ministry of Intelligence issued just days after the war began 
in 2023 recommended the occupation of Gaza and total transfer of its 
population to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

The document identified a plan to transfer all residents of the Gaza 
Strip to North Sinai as the preferred option among three alternatives 
regarding the future of the Palestinians from the enclave.

Though Egypt rejected the proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu says he is committed to implementing an expulsion plan 
announced by US President Donald Trump at the start of the year, 
claiming it was a “humanitarian” initiative to “relocate” Palestinians 
to a safer place.

Last week, several sources 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-in-talks-to-expel-palestinians-to-south-sudan-report>cited 
by AP said Israel is in talks with South Sudan about the potential 
relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to the East African country.

According to a /Wall Street Journal/ 
<https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-is-quietly-in-talks-to-relocate-palestinians-from-gaza-90a7ab23>(WSJ) 
report, Israel has identified six countries to negotiate with regarding 
relocating Gaza residents, including Syria, Libya, Somaliland, and South 
Sudan. The report says the efforts are not going well, and that previous 
talks on the matter “didn't make much progress.”

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