Israel's Smotrich says Trump's plan to displace Palestinians to start within weeks
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said US President Donald Trump's plan to forcibly transfer Palestinians from Gaza could start within weeks.
Speaking at a meeting with journalists on Saturday, the far-right minister confirmed that discussions with US teams have begun to implement the mass displacement plan.
"Preparations have started amongst our teams, alongside teams of the US President Donald Trump," Smotrich told reporters, according to Israel Channel 12.
He explained that the plan involves two key components.
"One is to find countries that can receive people, and two, it's a huge logistical operation to take such a large number of people out of here."
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Smotrich expressed confidence that the process would begin soon and that Palestinians would want to leave their homeland.
"I think most of them will want to," he stated, adding that "it is a process that is going to start in the coming weeks, even if it starts at a slower pace, bit by bit it will gather speed and intensify".
The minister went on to argue that Gaza's residents would have no future in the territory, citing the mass destruction brought about by 15 months of heavy Israeli bombardment.
"The people of Gaza have nothing to look for in Gaza in the next 10-15 years," Smotrich said.
"After we return to fighting, and Gaza will look like Jabalia, there will be nothing to look for there."
'All in'
Trump first proposed the plan earlier this month, expressing strong support for the mass expulsion of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to Egypt and Jordan.
At a joint press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that the US was looking into 'taking over' the Gaza Strip and 'owning it' for the foreseeable future, displacing Palestinians from their homeland and turning the Palestinian territory into the 'Riviera of the Middle East'.
Trump's Gaza ethnic cleansing plan is no bluff. It's what Israel has always wanted Read More »
His remarks have drawn a barrage of international criticism.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, among others, said that it was "essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing", recalling the "right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land".
Smotrich has been a strong advocate for harsh measures against Gaza since the war began two years ago, including withholding of aid and the annexation of Palestinian territory.
On Saturday, he expressed support for annexing five percent of the Gaza Strip as a retaliation for 'a single hair falling from the head of one of our hostages'.
'The Biden administration was complex, creating many restrictions,' he said.
'Trump gave us full legitimacy to go 'all in' on this, and that's what I would have done.'
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