Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly convened a secret meeting earlier this week with senior Mossad and government officials to discuss a potential plan to evacuate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to a Wednesday Channel 13 report.
The Mossad was reportedly tasked with figuring out which countries would be willing to accept the evacuated Palestinians, so that future diplomatic avenues could be explored.
In a July visit to Washington, Mossad Director David Barnea told US Envoy Steve Witkoff that Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Libya have already expressed openness to receiving large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza.
Hamas prevents civilians from evacuating
Since the start of the IDF's evacuation efforts, around 60,000-80,000 Palestinians are estimated to have begun evacuating southward from Gaza City; however, senior defense officials have noted that Hamas is doing all it can to prevent civilians from leaving the city.
"We want to go south, but Hamas is standing in the way," a Gazan civilian told a COGAT officer in a recording released by the IDF.
Hamas' tactics range from claiming that conditions in southern Gaza are insufficient at the most mild, to shooting and beating those who try to leave in the most extreme.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Reuters contributed to this report.