Smotrich urges occupation of Gaza, calls for ‘voluntary migration’ plan for Palestinians

MADRID 26 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, defended this Monday that his country “can and must occupy the Gaza Strip”, making an explicit call for the expulsion of the Palestinians from this territory, a project that encourages it to also be used in West Bank.

“It is possible to create a situation in which Gaza has less than half of its current population within two years,” he declared at a meeting of the Yesha Council, the organization that brings together the various associations of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. and East Jerusalem.

To achieve this, according to the ultranationalist politician, the Israeli Government must promote “voluntary migration”, a project that would serve as a “model” for the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.

“We do not have to be afraid of this word (occupation),” he said during the meeting, which was reported in the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.

This is not the first time that Smotrich has advocated for the total occupation of Gaza. Last week, he expressed his rejection of a peace agreement that requires the withdrawal of the Israeli Army and proposed, instead, occupying the north of the Strip until the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) frees the nearly one hundred hostages still held. They remain captive in the Palestinian enclave since October 7, 2023.