Latest news with #Smotrich
Saba Yemen
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Hamas: Statements by Fascist Zionist Minister Smotrich Explicit Threat to Continue Genocide
Doha – Saba: The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) considered the statements by fascist Zionist Minister Smotrich, in which he publicly called for the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the resumption of the settlement project there, an explicit threat to continue the crimes of genocide and forced displacement against the Palestinian people. In a press statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), Hamas said that the statements of the fascist Zionist minister clearly reveal the brazen colonial nature of the Zionist enemy government and its complete disregard for international law and United Nations resolutions. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
Gulf Insider
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Netanyahu Now Plans To Annex Gaza
Having rendered much of Gaza uninhabitable and displacing a huge proportion of its population, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to propose a plan by which Israel will begin claiming parts of Gaza to be Israeli territory, with an eye on eventually seizing all of it. The scheme — which is said to have President Trump's backing though also certain to trigger international condemnation — is aimed at preventing his extremist ruling coalition from splintering, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz , which first reported on it. Under the scheme, Israel will give Gaza political and militant group Hamas a short deadline for accepting a ceasefire. After Hamas refuses to accept Netanyahu's terms (which will likely be written to guarantee refusal) Israel will start annexing portions of Gaza, starting with the buffer zone it has created along the perimeter of the territory, before proceeding to claim more land in the north. Eventually, all of Gaza will be claimed as Israeli land, fulfilling the wishes of extremist ministers who are vital to Netanyahu's ruling coalition. One of those powerful coalition members is Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, which seeks to move the Israeli state closer to a theocracy. Smotrich is himself a West Bank settler who has long agitated for the annexing of that territory. In May, Smotrich told a settler conference that 'Gaza will be totally destroyed,' with all 2.3 million residents 'concentrated' in the extreme south, where they will be 'totally despairing' with 'no hope' and 'looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places.' Smotrich opposed Netanyahu's decision — in the face of rising malnutrition and starvation in Gaza accompanied by growing global condemnation — to even slightly increase the flow of food and medicine into the besieged strip. So did another minister of note: Itamar Ben Gvir, who leads the National Security Ministry, called Netanyahu's move 'a capitulation to Hamas's deceitful campaign,' and reiterated his demand that nothing at all be allowed to flow into Gaza, and for the IDF to conquer the territory and encourage the Palestinians to move to other countries. To get a sense of his extremism, consider that Ben Gvir infamously adorned his home with a photo of Baruch Goldstein, who mass-murdered 28 Muslims in the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. A before-and-after comparison of the vicinity of Gaza's Al-Amal Hospital (red marker on each photo) reveals the IDF's systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure (via The Mirror) Compounding the anger of Ben Gvir and Smotrich, Netanyahu made the decision to facilitate a small increase in aid flow (largely cosmetic) on Saturday — at a time when the two were supposedly unavailable for consultation because they both observe Shabbat. Ben Gvir called that an excuse for acting without him, saying, 'I am available all Shabbat, 24/7, because I am the national security minister and receive updates all the time.' Netanyahu's annexation scheme is designed to ease that latest political firestorm on his right, with particular focus on Smotrich, who reportedly told Netanyahu he will 'remain in the government for the time being,' and will 'judge by actions' as to whether the promised annexation of Gaza proceeds. "The Israelis don't want us to film out of the [airplane] window at the devastation inside Gaza. But I've spent 10 minutes looking at it with my own eyes and I can tell you communities in the north of Gaza, that I knew well, are flat. There's nothing left of them." — Jeremy Bowen — paulusthewoodgnome 🇺🇦 🦋 💂🏻♂️ (@woodgnomology) July 28, 2025 According to Haaretz , Netanyahu assured his ministers that the annexation plan has been presented to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and that the Trump administration supports it. Annexation could encourage more Western governments to recognize Palestine as a state. On Thursday, French President Macron announced that he intends to recognize Palestine at the September United Nations General Assembly, and Monday brought reports that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has swiftly moved closer to making the same move, under pressure from his Labour Party and growing global consensus that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Also read: Netanyahu Recalls Team From Qatar As Gaza Ceasefire Talks Collapse Again
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Far-right minister says Israel should reoccupy Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel should reoccupy Gaza rather than negotiate with Hamas, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday at an event marking the 20th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal of settlers from the Palestinian territory. 'Gaza is an integral part of Israel. How to move on to a tangible plan (for resettlement)? We need to need think about it, and above all we must succeed,' said Smotrich, who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Smotrich, who had threatened to leave the government if it allowed aid into Gaza, was on the back foot a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorised new humanitarian deliveries. 'If I'm still in the government despite everything, it's probably because I have good reasons to believe positive things are about to happen,' the head of the Religious Zionism Party said. Smotrich evoked the 2005 withdrawal in which Israel evacuated 8,000 settlers and its soldiers from the Gaza Strip. 'Who could have thought 20 years ago that Gaza would be like it is now?' he asked the audience, before suggesting that conditions in the territory now favoured a return of Israeli settlers. During a meeting at the Israeli parliament last week, elected officials and ministers were presented with a plan for the construction of new settlements. 'This is doable and realistic. I'm very optimistic. Conquering Gaza and settling it as an integral part of the State of Israel', Smotrich said at the time. Fellow far-right minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf echoed his comment. 'This is the price that the terrorists must pay, and God willing, as soon as possible,' he said. Several Israeli far-right groups will march Wednesday under the slogan '20 years later, we're coming back to the Gaza Strip'. Gaza's Hamas government reacted angrily to Smotrich's remarks, calling them 'an explicit threat to continue the crimes of genocide and forced displacement against our people'. - AFP
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Smotrich: Gush Katif is 'too small,' good things are about to happen in the Gaza Strip
The finance minister said he was still in the government since he had "reason to believe that good things are about to happen" in the Gaza Strip. The government is considering taking steps in the war in Gaza that are supported by its far-right wing, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in an interview during a conference in Yad Binyamin on Tuesday marking 20 years since Israel's disengagement from the territory. Smotrich's remarks at the conference, called the 'Katif Conference for National Responsibility' and hosted by the Gush Katif Heritage Center, were his first public comments since Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu's decision over the weekend to enact daily 'localized humanitarian ceasefires' in the Strip. Potential upcoming elections The decision, which was taken without Smotrich's knowledge, led to a crisis between him and Netanyahu. Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party Knesset faction leader, MK Ohad Tal, said to the Post on Monday that without a 'clear, organized work plan backed militarily and diplomatically for victory' in the coming days, the party will 'have no choice and will have to go to an election." In the on-stage interview, with Shirit Avitan-Cohen (Yisrael Hayom), Smotrich said, 'If, despite everything, I'm still in the government, it's probably because I have good reason to believe that good things are about to happen' in Gaza. Smotrich did not explain what 'good things' he was referring to, but according to a series of reports on a security consultation held on Monday night, Israel was considering an expansion of military operations in Gaza. During the consultation, Netanyahu also discussed partial annexation of the Gaza Strip as a potential course of action if hostage deal talks fail, an Israeli source confirmed to the Post. Smotrich, who throughout the war has been a vocal critic of the government's humanitarian aid policies and who threatened in April to resign the government if 'even a grain' of aid reached Hamas, said in the interview, 'Airdropping aid from planes doesn't interest me because it doesn't reach Hamas. The real foolishness is the trucks entering areas under Hamas control—where they can seize them, sell the contents, and preserve the population's dependency,' Smotrich said in the interview. 'This is extremely harmful, and I've had countless assurances it would stop. I stood before the public and pledged that this would no longer happen. I even said I couldn't be part of a government that continues doing this, and I meant every word. I know I've become a target of mockery and ridicule over the last 48 hours in the media and online.' 'If, despite everything, I'm still in the government, it's probably because I have good reason to believe that good things are about to happen—things worth enduring the humiliation, the mockery, and the ridicule. And in the end, time will tell whether I was right or not." Regarding the resettlement of Israeli Jews in Gaza Smotrich said, 'For twenty years we spoke of this as a wishful aspiration—now it's also a realistic work plan. We didn't pay these prices just to transfer Gaza from one Arab to another. Gaza is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel. I don't want to return to Gush Katif—it's too small. It needs to be much bigger. Today, Gaza enables us to think on a broader scale.' West Bank policy The finance minister also commented on the government's policy in the West Bank. 'We are carrying out a revolution in Judea and Samaria. We are applying de facto sovereignty—through construction, regulation, declarations, changing the DNA of the entire system, paving roads—and, with God's help, in this [government's] term, we will also apply formal sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,' Smotrich said. Smotrich convened his party for a closed-door meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the developments in Gaza and the party's position. The party did not make any statements by press time. The recently resigned MK Gadi Eisenkot wrote on Facebook in response to Smotrich's comments, 'Bezalel Smotrich speaks the truth to anyone willing to listen. The October 7 cabinet and the minority government continue to act against the aims of the war, against the Israeli and Jewish ethos. By the measure of results, those responsible for the October 7 failure have also led to the total collapse in Gaza. Along with his extremist partners, he prefers to keep abandoning the hostages—all just to survive politically. It is time for decisions and leadership.' Democrats chairman Yair Golan wrote on X, 'Smotrich dodged combat service, his sons are dodging service, and he's promoting a draft-dodging law—but that doesn't stop him from sending soldiers to their deaths for visions of settlements in Gaza. He pushes for endless war, without bringing back the hostages, at the cost of our children's blood, the erosion of the IDF, and the unravelling of Israeli society.' For you this is war; for him, it's a time of miracles. Realizing the vision of Smotrich and his partners won't just sacrifice an entire generation—it will destroy the Zionist vision and bring ruin to the State of Israel,' Golan wrote. Solve the daily Crossword
Saba Yemen
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
PFLP: Smotrich's statements reflect fascist trends within Israeli occupation government
Gaza – SABA: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) stated on Tuesday that " the aggressive and racist statements made by the fascist, racist, and criminal Zionist minister Bezalel Smotrich — in which he openly called for the re-establishment of settlements in the Gaza Strip and claimed it as part of what he called 'the Land of Israel' — reflect the growing fascist and Judaization-oriented tendencies within the Israeli occupation government." The Front emphasized that these remarks "confirm that the occupation is pressing forward with its colonial expansionist plans, not only in the occupied West Bank but also in the Gaza Strip." In a statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (SABA), the PFLP added: "These remarks express the core of the criminal program of the occupation government and its ongoing war against the Palestinian people, their existence, and their land. It is a desperate attempt to legitimize ethnic cleansing and impose settler sovereignty over Gaza." The statement further noted that such remarks are "part of a comprehensive plan to entrench the reality of occupation through genocide, starvation, control, and settlement — all under American involvement and blatant international complicity." The PFLP stressed that "the Palestinian people — who have sacrificed thousands of martyrs, wounded, and prisoners in pursuit of national liberation — will continue to resist these settlement projects by all means of resistance, and will fiercely defend every inch of Palestinian land, as it is an unalienable right that cannot be taken away, regardless of the crimes, massacres, and schemes." The Front called on "the masses of the Palestinian people and all national and social forces to achieve firm political and on-the-ground unity to confront these colonial plans." It affirmed that "the response to Smotrich's statements will be through increased resilience, clinging to the land, and escalating resistance across all areas under occupation until it is completely defeated and eradicated from our land." Finally, the PFLP urged "the international community to assume its responsibilities, end the policy of double standards, and take a clear and firm stance against these dangerous plans that embolden the occupation to continue its Judaization and settlement projects and commit further acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and starvation against the Palestinian people." Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
