JERUSALEM: Israel's defence minister ordered the army on Thursday (Feb 6) to prepare a plan to allow the "voluntary departure" of residents from Gaza, Israeli media said, after President Trump drew widespread condemnation over US plans to take over the strip.

Defence Minister Israel Katz hailed Trump's announcement that the United States would aim to take control of Gaza, resettle the more than 2 million Palestinians living there and transform the territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East".