Bezalel Smotrich: Gaza will be totally destroyed
Two days after the Israeli security cabinet approved a plan for the " conquest" of Gaza, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich painted an apocalyptic picture of the post-war situation in the "destroyed" Palestinian enclave during a symposium in the Israeli settlement of Ofra, in the occupied West Bank.
"In a few months, we will be able to declare that we have won. Gaza will be totally destroyed," he declared. He further detailed, "In six months, Hamas will no longer exist as a functional entity... The population of Gaza will be concentrated south of the Morag corridor. The rest of the territory will be empty."
The Morag axis south of Gaza, named after an Israeli settlement dismantled in 2005, cuts the strip of land from east to west, isolating Rafah from Khan Younis further north, and from the rest of the enclave.
"The citizens of Gaza will be concentrated in the south. They will be totally desperate, understand that there is no more hope or anything to expect from this territory, and will seek to relocate to start a new life elsewhere," stated Bezalel Smotrich, a fervent supporter of colonization in the West Bank and the "relocation" of Gaza residents to third countries.
At the beginning of March, he announced the creation of a "migration administration" for the displacement of Gazans.
When also asked about the annexation of the West Bank, the Finance Minister replied that "this will happen during this term. It is one of our most important challenges. We are facing a historic opportunity."
On Monday, he asserted to the Israeli Channel 12 that Israelis should not be ashamed of the term "occupation" in Gaza, and that there will be "no withdrawal from the territories we have conquered, even in exchange for hostages." The Forum of Families, the largest association of hostage relatives in Israel, accused the Israeli government on Monday of "sacrificing" the hostages held in Gaza after the approval of an expansion of the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory. This plan deserves the name "Smotrich-Netanyahu plan" because it "sacrifices the hostages," the association said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed at the beginning of February the idea of a U.S. takeover of Gaza to rebuild it and make it a "Riviera of the Middle East." He claimed the inhabitants of the enclave could be relocated to Egypt and Jordan, two countries that have rejected this option. The head of the White House is expected for a tour in the Middle East from May 13 to 16.
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