Two Israeli lawmakers are calling on Western countries to take in Gaza civilians wishing to relocate as the Israel Defense Forces works to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Likud MK Danny Danon and Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak laid out their proposal in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published on Monday, arguing that resettling Gazan civilians is a global responsibility and looking at Europe’s past experience absorbing millions of refugees from the wars in the former Yugoslavia, the Syrian civil war and other conflicts.
The lawmakers write that the program can be accomplished by “creating well-structured and internationally coordinated relocation programs” and providing “one-time financial-support packages.”
Danon and Ben Barak write that the initiative is a real solution for the people of Gaza, as opposed to U.N. resolutions that “are doing nothing tangible to help Gaza’s residents.”
“Global organizations with experience settling refugees should facilitate the relocation of Gaza residents who wish to move to countries willing to accept them. We simply need a handful of the world’s nations to share the responsibility of hosting Gazan residents. Even if countries took in as few as 10,000 people each, it would help alleviate the crisis,” wrote the two MKs.
“The international community has a moral imperative—and an opportunity—to demonstrate compassion, help the people of Gaza move toward a more prosperous future and work together to achieve greater peace and stability in the Middle East,” they added.