GAZA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Fatah spokesperson Iyad Abu Zneit on Thursday condemned Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's remarks on the displacement of Gaza residents as "dangerous," calling for urgent action by the international community, Arab states and regional powers.
Zneit told Xinhua that Israel has "successive plans for displacement and extermination," claiming that the Israeli army has seized about 70 percent of the Gaza Strip and confined residents to the remaining 30 percent.
He said Israel's policy aims to create conditions that would force Palestinians to flee Gaza to implement its displacement plans, adding that the West Bank is also subject to what he described as Israeli settlement plans.
Katz said Wednesday at a local conference that a plan to displace Gaza residents remains under consideration, according to Israel's state-owned Kan TV.
"There is no real solution for Gaza without displacement," he said, adding that the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority was prepared to facilitate the removal of Palestinians by sea, air, or other means, except through Egypt.
Katz noted the plan had been frozen rather than canceled.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to the Gaza Strip that Israeli troops would remain in the enclave along the so-called "Yellow Line," the Israeli military's withdrawal line established in the first phase of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement, which demarcates areas under Israeli military control from zones where Palestinians are permitted to live and move.
"We control the territory. We are not withdrawing. We are staying on this line," Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.
He noted that Israel now controls about 60 percent of the enclave, adding that "There is more to come, as we continue to kill militants who threaten us on a daily basis" until Hamas is disarmed and Gaza demilitarized.
Also on Thursday, two Palestinians, including a 13-year-old child, were killed by Israeli army fire on tents housing displaced people in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, according to local sources.
A source at Al-Shifa Hospital confirmed the fatalities.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the hospital director, warned that Gaza's health sector is facing severe deterioration due to the continued Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
More than 1,700 medical personnel had been killed and over 450 others arrested since the outbreak of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, Salmiya said.
About 50 percent of medications are out of stock, while more than 300 types of medicines for chronic diseases are unavailable, he added. ■
