The Minister of Finance of Israelthe anti-Arab settler Bezalel Smotrichadvocated for “encourage emigration” of some two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Stripalmost the entire population of the enclave, and suggested the establishment of Jewish settlements in that place.
“We need to encourage migration from there. If there were between 100,000 and 200,000 Arabs in the Strip and not two million, all the talk about the day after [de la guerra] it would be completely different“Smotrich told Army Radio, in statements reported by the local press.
LOOK HERE: US says it sank three Houthi ships that attacked a Maersk container ship in the Red Sea
“They want to leave. They have been living in a ghetto for 75 years and they are in need“added the leader of the far-right party Religious Zionismby emphasizing: “I don’t think there is anyone in Israel who doesn’t want to see Jewish settlements everywhere.“, referring to Loop.
Since war broke out between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas in October, neighboring Arab countries, such as Egypt and Jordanhave said on several occasions that they will not allow a new massive displacement of Palestinians, like the one that occurred with the creation of the State of Israelin 1948.
Smotrich, who lives in a neighborhood in Occupied West Bankis part of the most radical group of ministers in the government of Benjamin Netanyahuand promotes a policy of occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territories.
Israel declared war on Hamas he October 7 after a massive attack by the Islamist group that included the launching of rockets and the simultaneous infiltration of some 3,000 militiamen who massacred some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250 in towns near Gaza.
Since then, and despite growing international opposition, the Israeli Army has maintained a strong offensive against the Palestinian enclave, where there are already more than 21,800 Palestinians dead and 56,400 injured, most of them children and women, in addition to another 7,000 missing under the rubble, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, under the control of Hamas.
MORE INFORMATION: Netanyahu says war in Gaza will last “several more months” and will continue until “victory”
Arguing that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure for its military operations, Israel has bombed homes, schools, hospitals, temples, water treatment and supply plants, as well as telecommunications or energy supply facilities, leaving the enclave practically uninhabitable.
The war has also left some 1.9 million people displaced in Gaza, 85% of the 2.2 million inhabitants of the Strip, who live in the midst of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the collapse of hospitals, the outbreak of epidemics and shortages of drinking water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said that he will not allow the Palestinian National Authority (ANP), which governs small parts of the occupied West Bank, has some type of control over Gaza in the post-war period, ensuring that this institution seeks the destruction of Israel, like Hamas, considered terrorist by Israel, USA and the European Union.
However, the United States, Israel’s main partner and so far the only country that does not advocate a ceasefire but has given weapons to the Israeli Army, wants the PNA to have a participation in Gaza and, in the long term, to have a two-state solution to the conflict.
So far, Netanyahu has not openly said that he seeks to displace the Gathazis, but he has also not been clear about what the reality of the Strip will be once the war is over.
ALSO SEE:
According to various analysts, Netanyahu will not be able to refuse the participation of the ANP in the new reality of Gaza, something unacceptable for its most radical partners, who could dissolve the Government.
International law considers that Gaza StripWest Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights They are territory occupied by Israel since 1967, when it fought the Six-Day War.
Furthermore, since Hamas forcibly took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel has maintained a military blockade by air, land and sea on the Palestinian enclave, causing its population to live in critical conditions.
