“The only aid that ought to enter Gaza should be for voluntary migration, to allow them to emigrate voluntarily.”

Date: May 5, 2025 (covered by Times of Israel on May 5 at 17:12 UTC)

Location: During a weekly Knesset faction meeting of Ben‑Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party in the Israeli Knesset, following a Security Cabinet decision to resume limited humanitarian aid to Gaza

Context & Circumstances : His remarks came as Israel approved a proposal to expand military operations in Gaza, while slightly reopening aid corridors.

Ben‑Gvir was the sole minister to vote against any humanitarian aid, insisting that any assistance must be strictly channeled toward facilitating “voluntary migration”—i.e., enabling Gazans to emigrate—instead of providing food, medicine, or fuel

This statement is a clear public endorsement by a high-level Israeli minister of aid-linked population transfer, framing humanitarian assistance as a tool for displacement rather than alleviating suffering.

Legal analysts and international observers have flagged such rhetoric as supportive of coerced mass displacement, raising serious questions under international humanitarian law.

📰 Sources Times of Israel (May 5, 2025) – quoted the statement from Ben‑Gvir’s faction meeting According to Israel’s Channel 14, Ben-Gvir said “the only aid that should enter Gaza is for the purpose of voluntary migration,” a clear expression of his support for the displacement of Palestinians from the enclave ahead of Israel’s annexing it.

“As long as [Israeli captives] are trapped in tunnels, no aid should enter there, neither from the Israeli army nor from aid organisations,” he added.

The Guardian live-update feed confirmed this statement as part of government strategy discussions