Israeli Minister Advocates Gaza Occupation, Calls for Palestinian Exodus
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir restated his call to "encourage" Palestinians to leave Gaza, asserting that the occupation of the besieged enclave is the only means to restore security to the Tel Aviv regime.
Ben-Gvir made these statements during an interview with Israel’s Channel 13 news on Wednesday, reiterating his earlier call for the displacement of Gaza residents and the reoccupation of the territory for new Israeli settlements.
"There is no other way to restore security to Israel other than a full occupation of the Palestinian territory," he insisted, adding, "Voluntary immigration of the residents of Gaza should be encouraged."
Ben-Gvir criticized the Israeli cabinet for not adequately supporting Israeli forces engaged in the ongoing war on Gaza. "I hope that Likud elements do not set us back in terms of achievements," he said regarding the war.
Various Israeli regime officials have recently called for the occupation of Gaza and even suggested genocidal actions against the Palestinian people.
Earlier this month, Amichai Eliyahu proposed leaving residents of Gaza with no choice but to emigrate to other countries as a revenge measure following the surprise Al-Aqsa Storm operation. In November, Eliyahu had advocated for dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza.
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich also called for encouraging the "emigration" of Palestinians from Gaza, aiming for extremist settlers to return to the area post-war.
The United Nations expressed deep alarm over statements from Israeli officials regarding the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. As per the UN, 85% of Gaza's population is already internally displaced, facing severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Osama Hamdan, highlighted that 800,000 Palestinians are experiencing a genuine famine due to Israel's devastating war and the prevention of necessary supplies into Gaza. He stressed that any initiative to bring medicines to the captives must include providing medicines to the Palestinians in Gaza. Hamdan also reiterated that the complete cessation of aggression on Gaza is a prerequisite for any prisoner exchange deal.