Hamas has called on Arab and Muslim countries to oppose proposals by two far-right Israeli ministers to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. In a statement, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem described statements by Israeli government ministers about plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza as "an extremely dangerous development" and urged Arab and Islamic countries to "take serious and unified action" and adopt effective measures to thwart such plans.

The appeal follows a plan laid out Thursday by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir that aims to see the departure of 250,000 Palestinians from Gaza in the first year, followed by the rest of the territory's population. Separately, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has proposed removing Palestinians from the West Bank, where Israeli settlers have been carrying out a growing number of attacks.

Hamas did not specify which ministers' statements it was responding to, but its spokesman pointed to escalating statements by Israeli government ministers regarding plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza.