Far-right minister says Israel should reoccupy Gaza
'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 authorized 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 favored 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.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
3 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Canada rejects claims of ongoing arms exports to Israel
OTTAWA — Canada on Saturday reaffirmed its ban on military exports that could be used in Gaza, dismissing claims in a July 29 report alleging Canadian arms continue to flow to Israel. 'Since January 2024, we have refused any new permits for controlled goods that could be used in Gaza. Not one has been approved,' Foreign Minister Anita Anand said in a statement. 'We went further by freezing all existing permits in 2024 that could have allowed military components to be used in Gaza, and those permits remain suspended today.' Anand stressed that Canadian law prohibits the export of controlled goods without a valid permit and warned that violators face fines, seizures, and potential criminal charges. 'We will not allow Canadian-made weapons to contribute to this conflict in any form,' she said. Responding to the report's allegations, Anand said the Canadian Foreign Ministry's review found several claims 'misleading' and that the items labeled as 'bullets' were actually paintball-style projectiles paired with equipment that renders a firearm inoperable with standard rounds. 'These cannot be used in combat, and if they were, they would require a permit that would not be granted,' she added. She also noted that no mortars have been sent from Canadian manufacturers to Israel — directly or indirectly — since before the suspension of permits. The July 29 report, produced by four NGOs — including World Beyond War, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, and Independent Jewish Voices — cited Israeli tax data indicating Canadian goods labeled as military parts and ammunition were still reaching Israel. Activists also presented commercial shipping documents they said confirmed ammunition and military equipment transfers from Canadian companies. At a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Yara Shoufani of the Palestinian Youth Movement said the findings show 'Canada's ongoing material support for Israel despite government denials.' — Agencies
Saudi Gazette
5 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Hamas says it will not disarm without fully sovereign Palestinian state
GAZA CITY — Hamas declared Saturday that it will not surrender its weapons unless an 'independent, fully sovereign' Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital, rejecting reports that it had agreed to demilitarize. The statement came after Israel's Haaretz newspaper published a recording attributed to U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in which he reportedly said, 'Hamas has said that they are prepared to be demilitarized' and that a solution to end the war was 'very, very close.' 'Resistance and its weapons are a national and legitimate right as long as the occupation continues, a right recognized by international laws and conventions,' Hamas said on Telegram. 'Such rights cannot be relinquished except with the full attainment of our national rights.' Witkoff met families of Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv on Saturday, his third visit to Hostage Square since the war began, amid renewed calls for a ceasefire deal following the release of videos showing two emaciated Israeli captives. On Friday, Witkoff toured an aid center in southern Gaza run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying he aimed to give U.S. President Donald Trump 'a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation' to shape a plan for food and medical aid condemned the visit as a 'propaganda stunt' designed to deflect outrage over what UN officials and rights groups have described as Israel's systematic starvation Health Ministry says at least 169 Palestinians, including 93 children, have died from hunger-related causes since Oct. 7, calls for a ceasefire, Israel has continued its offensive in Gaza, which the ministry says has killed more than 60,000 people, most of them women and International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes, while Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice. — Agencies
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
Amount of aid entering Gaza remains ‘very insufficient'
BERLIN: The amount of aid entering Gaza remains 'very insufficient' despite a limited improvement, the German government said on Saturday after ministers discussed ways to heighten pressure on Israel. The criticism came after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the region on Thursday and Friday, and the German military staged its first food airdrops into Gaza, where aid agencies say that more than 2 million Palestinians are facing starvation. Germany 'notes limited initial progress in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, which, however, remains very insufficient to alleviate the emergency situation,' government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement. The Israeli army is accused of having equipped Palestinian criminal networks in its fight against Hamas and of allowing them to plunder aid deliveries. 'Israel remains obligated to ensure the full delivery of aid,' Kornelius added. Facing mounting international criticism over its military operations in Gaza, Israel has allowed more trucks to cross the border and some foreign nations to carry out airdrops of food and medicines. International agencies say the amount of aid entering Gaza is still dangerously low, however. The UN has said that 6,000 trucks are awaiting permission from Israel to enter the occupied Palestinian territory. The German government, traditionally a strong supporter of Israel, also expressed 'concern regarding reports that Hamas and criminal organizations are withholding large quantities of humanitarian aid.' Israel has alleged that much of the aid arriving in the territory is being siphoned off by Hamas, which runs Gaza. The Israeli army is accused of having equipped Palestinian criminal networks in its fight against Hamas and of allowing them to plunder aid deliveries. 'The real theft of aid since the beginning of the war has been carried out by criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces,' Jonathan Whittall of OCHA, the UN agency for coordinating humanitarian affairs, told reporters in May. A German government source said it had noted that Israel has 'considerably' increased the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza to about 220 a day. Berlin has taken a tougher line against Israel's actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in recent weeks. The source stated that a German security Cabinet meeting on Saturday discussed 'the different options' for exerting pressure on Israel, but no decision was made. A partial suspension of arms deliveries to Israel is one option that has been raised. Militants launched an attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel's military offensive on Gaza since then has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The UN considers the ministry's figures reliable. Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire in the war and deal for the release of hostages ended last week in deadlock. Hamas said on Saturday that it would not lay down arms unless an independent Palestinian state is established. In a statement, the Palestinian group said its 'armed resistance ... cannot be relinquished except through the full restoration of our national rights, foremost among them the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.'
