Board of Peace could be backing 'ethnic cleansing-lite' in Gaza

The Trump-backed Board of Peace has reportedly pledged to Israel that it will help facilitate the transfer of some Palestinians from Gaza, in a move that appears to support Israel's broader campaign to ethnically cleanse the territory after declining to endorse the mass "voluntary migration" of its more than two million residents.

A document obtained by Israeli public broadcaster Kan shows that the organisation committed to Israel in writing that it would identify countries around the world willing to take in students and medical patients from Gaza.

The document, which was recently delivered to Israel by the Board of Peace and the US, asks Israel to establish a "travel programme" for Gazan students alongside a large-scale medical evacuation programme for patients requiring treatment abroad.

The news comes as Israel butts heads with board over its disarmament agreement with Hamas. Axios reported on Monday that the board's Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end attacks on Gaza following the deal. Israeli officials have refused to do so until Gaza is fully demilitarised.

The board's proposal appears to provide an alternative after it decided against including "voluntary migration" in its Gaza roadmap, while still advancing the relocation of Palestinians under the categories of students and medical patients.

The plan also echoes proposals advanced by Israel's far-right government to depopulate Gaza.

Multiple senior officials on the Board of Peace have previously backed Israeli calls for the forced transfer of Palestinians from Gaza, including Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who sits on the board's executive committee.

Early in his administration, Trump openly promoted Gaza's ethnic cleansing and pressured Egypt and Jordan to resettle its population. The US and Israel also made unsuccessful attempts to persuade several African countries to take in Palestinians.

Trump later dropped the proposal following opposition from Arab states.

Israel's far right has continued to promote so-called "voluntary migration" from Gaza as a precursor to re-establishing Jewish settlements in the territory.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have repeatedly advocated the mass displacement of Gaza's population since the start of Israel's genocidal war on the enclave in October 2023.

Israel has also established a dedicated government directorate to oversee plans for the forcible relocation of Palestinians from Gaza.

Defence Minister Israel Katz, another leading advocate of the policy, vowed in May that it would be "implemented at the right time and in the right manner".

Talking to Haaretz in June, an Israeli security source linked the issue to the Iran war, suggesting that Trump may support it "as compensation for painful concessions" that Washington forced Israel to make as part of the peace deal with Tehran.

Recent polling indicates that the idea has broad support among the Israeli public. A survey carried out by the Hebrew University at the end of 2025 found that two-thirds of Israelis and 87% of government supporters agreed with the statement that "there are no innocents in Gaza".

This comes as Israel continues to oppose the peace plan being advanced by the Board of Peace in talks with Hamas.

Negotiators last week appeared to make a breakthrough after Hamas agreed to surrender its weapons if Israel complied with the October ceasefire agreement.

But Israel instead escalated its attacks, killing at least 18 people on Sunday in what Gaza health officials said was the deadliest day in weeks.

It has also refused to withdraw from an estimated 20% of Gaza that it seized after the ceasefire came into force.

A roadmap released by the Board of Peace last week called on Israel to "fully" implement the ceasefire agreement "without delay".

But in a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected key elements of the plan and demanded the "genuine, verifiable and irreversible demilitarisation of Hamas".

Israeli forces have killed at least 1,250 Palestinians and wounded 4,110 others since the ceasefire was supposed to take effect in October, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The overall death toll since October 2023 now stands at 73,375, with 174,220 others injured.