An Israeli minister is calling for the majority of the population to be expelled from the “ghetto” in the Gaza Strip
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called this Sunday to “encourage the emigration” of about two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, almost the entire population of the enclave. “If there were between 100,000 and 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not two million, all the talk would be about the day after [de la guerra] “It would be completely different,” Smotrich of the far-right Religious Zionism party told Army Radio in statements to local press. “They want to leave. They have been living in a ghetto for 75 years, and they are in need.”
When asked what the future of Gaza would look like after this ethnic cleansing, Smotrich, who lives in a colony in the occupied West Bank, replied: “I don't think there is anyone in Israel who wouldn't want to see Jewish settlements everywhere.” , belongs to the most radical group of ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu's government and promotes a policy of occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territories.
Since the war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas broke out in October, neighboring Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan have repeatedly stated that they will not allow a new mass expulsion of Palestinians, as happened with the creation of Hamas as the State of Israel Year 1948.
The future of the Gaza Strip after the end of the military campaign against Hamas is one of the main points of contention within the Israeli executive branch. So far, Netanyahu has not openly stated that he wants to expel Gazans, but he has also not been clear about what the reality in Gaza will be when the war is over.
Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that he will not allow the Palestinian Authority (PNA), which governs small parts of the occupied West Bank, any control over Gaza, ensuring that that institution seeks the destruction of Israel, just like Hamas. However, the majority of the international community, led by the United States, wants the Palestinian Authority to have an interest in Gaza and a long-term two-state solution to the conflict. (Efe)