Smotrich calls for settlers to enforce mass expulsion of Gazans

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Jan 2024 00:34
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The Israeli Finance Minister has said that Israelis would emphatically move to the Gaza Strip, showing his support for the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,(R), talks with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich,(L), during the weekly cabinet meeting in the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, on June 25, 2023 (AP)

Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, should leave and make way for Israeli settlers, who could "make the desert bloom," Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday.

The extremist Israeli minister made the remarks to reaffirm the Israeli occupation's expansionist and racist nature, which has been translated into the Israeli occupation military's actions in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

"What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration," Smotrich told the Israeli Army Radio.

"If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not 2 million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different," he added, further revealing his fascist and genocidal sentiments.

"Most of Israeli society will say 'Why not, it's a nice place, let's make the desert bloom, it doesn't come at anyone's expense'," highlighting the perception that zionists have of Palestinian civilians, which officials have previously described as animals and terrorists.

Although Smotrich is not part of the Israeli war cabinet, he remains an integral part of Israeli decision-making, as he alongside other extremists holds together the right-wing Netanyahu government.

Earlier the Israeli war cabinet on Sunday approved a resolution to disburse 75 million shekels for enhancing infrastructure, particularly for security measures, in illegal Israeli settlements located in the occupied West Bank, Israeli news sources reported.

The allocated funds are intended to benefit around 70 illegal colonial outposts, alternatively referred to as "young settlements", which have never received official authorization from the Israeli regime. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's office outlined that the funds will be utilized to procure firefighting equipment, prefabricated bomb shelters, generators, field cameras, lighting, and rescue equipment.

Such decisions made concurrently with the Israeli aggression in Gaza, shed light on the expansionist nature of the Israeli regime, which has disregarded international law and UNSC decisions, to reinforce its occupation of Palestinian territories.