Israel’s “Humanitarian City” Plan in Rafah Condemned as a Mass Detention Scheme by Opposition Leader Lapid
Yair Lapid joins widespread backlash against controversial Israeli proposal to relocate 600,000 Gazans into fenced camps on Rafah ruins under the guise of "humanitarian aid."
Watan-Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Sunday slammed the controversial “humanitarian city” plan being promoted by the Israeli government to be built on the ruins of Rafah, southern Gaza.
According to Israel’s Army Radio, Lapid described the proposal as a “bad idea from every perspective — security, political, economic, and logistical.”
He stated:“The Israeli army loudly opposes this plan. It’s an attempt to create a process that would ultimately leave Israel trapped in Gaza with no way out.”
Lapid sharply criticized the inherent contradictions in the plan:“If you prevent [the Palestinians] from leaving the city, it’s a detention camp. If they’re allowed to leave, then there is no humanitarian city.”
He added, expressing disbelief:“How do they even plan to implement this? There would be 600,000 people surrounded by fences.”
The proposal was revealed Monday by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who outlined the creation of a so-called “humanitarian city” made up of tents built atop the destroyed city of Rafah.
In its initial phase, the plan would involve relocating 600,000 Palestinians to the fenced compound after undergoing strict security screening. Once inside, they would not be allowed to return to the areas they were forcibly displaced from.
Critics have likened the proposed “humanitarian city” to a ghetto or detention camp, drawing chilling parallels to Jewish internment camps during World War II (1939–1945).
On Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning against the plan, saying it amounts to a strategy of forced displacement disguised under humanitarian pretenses. “This so-called humanitarian city has nothing to do with humanity,” the ministry stated, pointing out it has been heavily criticized by the international community and even within Israel.
According to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, the planned city is to be built between the Philadelphi Corridor and Morag in southern Gaza. The intention is to concentrate all Gazan civilians in one fenced area, after which mechanisms would be introduced to encourage what Israel calls “voluntary emigration” from Gaza.
This plan emerges as part of what many experts and human rights groups have labeled a genocidal war on Gaza by Israel, supported by the United States, which began on October 7, 2023. The war has involved mass killings, starvation, total destruction of neighborhoods, and forced displacement.
To date, this campaign has resulted in over 196,000 Palestinian casualties, including the dead and wounded, the majority being women and children, alongside more than 11,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and widespread famine that has already claimed the lives of many — including dozens of children.
