Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls the move the ‘right humanitarian solution’. Critics call it ‘ethnic cleansing’.
The “right humanitarian solution” for the beleaguered enclave and the region is the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians in Gaza, according to Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Palestinian authorities compared this to advocating “ethnic cleansing.”
Smotrich’s remarks follow those of US lawmakers Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, and Ram Ben-Barak, a former deputy director of Mossad, who suggested on Monday in a Wall Street Journal commentary that part of Gaza’s population should be relocated to countries that will accept them.
“I applaud Knesset members Danny Danon and Ram Ben-Barak’s plan to allow Gazan Arabs to freely immigrate to other nations. Smotrich stated on Facebook on Tuesday that “this is the right humanitarian solution for the people of Gaza and the entire region.”
“A tiny territory like the Gaza Strip, devoid of natural resources and self-sufficient means of subsistence, is unlikely to be able to sustain itself economically and politically at such a high density for an extended period of time.
“The only way to end the suffering and pain of Jews and Arabs alike is for the international community to support and generously provide financial assistance to the state of Israel in exchange for the refugees being welcomed by nations who genuinely wish to serve their interests.”
He went on, “The State of Israel will not be able to tolerate the existence of an independent entity in Gaza.”
The general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Barghouti, responded to the minister’s remarks by saying on X that he had “revealed the real policy and intentions of the Israeli government.”
At the outset of Israel’s attack on Gaza, Netanyahu declared that all Gazans must leave their homes. The act of bombing an undefended civilian population is known as ethnic cleansing and is considered a humanitarian crime.
According to reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already pushed European politicians to assist him in persuading the president of Egypt to accept refugees from Gaza. There was also a plan put out by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence to “evacuate” all Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt.
After stating in March that the Palestinian people are “an invention” of the last century, Smotrich faced criticism. Palestinian authorities denounced his remarks as evidence of the “racist” mindset of Israel’s far-right government.
Danon and Ben-Barak stated in their paper published on Monday that because Europe has a long history of providing help to refugees escaping war, “countries around the world should offer a haven for Gaza residents who seek relocation.”
They stated, “Countries can achieve this by developing well-structured and globally coordinated relocation programs.”
When the state of Israel was established in 1948, the majority of Palestinians were forced from their country; this event is known to them as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.”The majority of Gaza’s population now is made up of the descendants of individuals who were uprooted during the Nakba. They now run the prospect of being forcibly removed once more, which is illegal under international law as a war crime.
SOURCE:-ALJAZEERA