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‘Voluntary immigration’ of Palestinians from Gaza ‘political goal’ for Israel: Finance minister

Bezalel Smotrich reiterates his opposition to establishment of Palestinian state

Ahmed Asmar |19.02.2024

Palestinians, carrying their belongings as they leave their homes and flee from Israel's air, sea and land attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza on January 23, 2024

JERUSALEM

Israel’s hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that the “voluntary immigration” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is a political goal for the government.

"The political goal is to destroy Hamas, encourage (Palestinian civilians to leave) and take control of Gaza," Smotrich told a press conference.

"The demobilization of the Gaza Strip is a political goal. The army’s full operational control of the entire Gaza Strip for years to come, ensuring that a security threat does not develop from there again against the citizens of Israel, and the residents of the south is a political goal."

The Israeli minister said encouraging the “voluntary immigration” of Palestinians from Gaza “will create a different reality on the ground and shine a completely different light on all discussions of 'the day after.'"

Smotrich reiterated his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Last week, US media reported joint US-Arab efforts to finalize a long-term peace plan that includes a timeframe for the creation of a Palestinian state.

“The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the land Israel and near all major population centers is an existential danger to the future of the State of Israel, and we will never agree to that,” he said.

"Israel will act unilaterally to cancel the Oslo Accords, completely and immediately stop all funding transferred to the Palestinian Authority, and completely dissolve the Palestinian Authority," Smotrich added.

In 1993, the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed the Oslo Accords, which gave Palestinians a form of civil rule. Negotiations, however, failed to complete a peace agreement leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

US-sponsored peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis collapsed in April 2014 as Tel Aviv refused to stop settlement building and release Palestinian detainees imprisoned before 1993.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 29,092 and injured about 69,028 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara