ISRAEL publicly began “preparations” for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza today despite international rejection of US President Donald Trump’s proposal to empty the territory of its population. 

Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes warning any such action would put its peace deal with Israel at risk, officials said.

The Trump administration has already dialled back aspects of the suggestion given its frosty international reception, saying any relocation of the region’s 2.3 million people would be temporary. 

US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan could be imposed on Palestinians.

In a social media post, President Trump said today that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the war and no US soldiers would be needed for his plan to redevelop it.

The Palestinians have strongly rejected Mr Trump’s proposal, which amounts to ethnic cleansing. 

Egypt has warned that an expulsion would destabilise the region and undermine its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of stability and US influence for decades.

Saudi Arabia, another key US ally, has also rejected any mass transfer of Palestinians and says it will not normalise relations with Israel — a key goal of the Trump administration — without the creation of a Palestinian state that includes Gaza.

President Trump and Israeli officials have depicted the proposed relocation from war-ravaged Gaza as voluntary, but Palestinians have universally expressed their determination to remain in their homeland.

Mr Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if Palestinians refuse to leave.

But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the plan meets the definition of ethnic cleansing, the forcible relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he has ordered the military to make preparations to facilitate the emigration of large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza through land crossings as well as “special arrangements for exit by sea and air.”

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has not publicly responded to Mr Trump’s proposal but sources said on Wednesday that Cairo has made clear to the US and Israel that it will resist any such proposal and that its peace deal with Israel is at risk.

Hamas, which still rules most of Gaza, has repeatedly condemned President Trump’s proposal. 

On Thursday Hamas said that any US takeover of Gaza would be considered an occupation and resisted.