Israel 'plans to expel Gaza population' to Democratic Republic of Congo
The New Arab Staff
03 January, 2024
Israeli officials have made many indications that they intend to expel Gaza's population, with new reports of secret talks with Congo in this regard
Gaza's 1.9 million displaced people have been pushed further and further south into an increasingly small area of land by Israel [Getty]
Israeli officials are reported to be holding secret talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo and other nations regarding the expulsion of Palestinians displaced by Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Zman Yisrael on Wednesday.
The newspaper, which is the Hebrew-language sister outlet of the Times of Israel, said the Gaza "migration" policy is rapidly becoming the leading policy of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet regarding Gaza's population.
Netanyahu has reportedly given the go-ahead for the expulsion policy and high-level cabinet members are following suit, which has initiated the talks with Congo as a possible destination.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population have been displaced by Israel's indiscriminate and brutal war, which has so far killed at least 22,313 people, most of them women and children, and injured 57,296.
At the beginning of the war, Israel ordered residents of the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes, and many Israeli officials made statements supporting the forced expulsion of Gaza's residents
“Congo will be willing to take in migrants, and we are negotiating with others,” said a senior source in the Israeli war cabinet quoted by the Times of Israel.
Last Monday, at a meeting of the Likud Party, Netanyahu fully endorsed the idea, saying: “Our problem is finding countries willing to accept them [Gazans], and we are working on it.”
On Tuesday, the US criticised far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for advocating the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
However, the support and implementation by Netanyahu, leading to the clandestine talks between the Israeli government and the Democratic Republic of Congo, appears to be a dangerous escalation in the implementation of an expulsion plan that has often been characterised as ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The Israeli government is calling the policy “voluntary migration”, but quotes from senior cabinet ministers suggest that the entire policy hinges upon Israel making Gaza uninhabitable for the civilian population, essentially forcing Palestinians to leave.
“At the end of the war Hamas rule will collapse, there are no municipal authorities, the civilian population will be entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. There will be no work, and 60% of Gaza’s agricultural land will become security buffer zones,” Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel said to the Knesset on Tuesday.
In-depthHebh Jamal
Gamliel, who is allegedly one of the main authors of the plan according to Zman Yisrael, presented the Israeli cabinet with a map showing a postwar Gaza, with the remaining Palestinian civilians being "closed off from all directions", and with Israel “expanding its security borders unrecognisably, controlling the Philadelphi Corridor, and imposing a permanent naval blockade”.
This, the Israeli government is arguing, necessitates the migration of the civilian population. Gamliel also claimed that no Palestinian body was fit to take power in Gaza as the civilian population will be exposed to “constant hatred of Israel” and it will lead to more attacks like that of October 7.
The newspaper also reported that Saudi Arabia was discussed by the war cabinet as a potential destination for Palestinians in Gaza, with Israeli ministers citing the large amounts of South Asian workers used by the Riyadh as it continues its construction boom.
Israeli lawmaker says its becoming clear that 'all Gazans must be destroyed'
Israeli MK Moshe Saada said calls for Gaza and its population to be destroyed had seeped across the political spectrum.
Several Israeli ministers and lawmakers have called for Gaza to be ethnically cleansed of Palestinians [AFP via Getty]
An Israeli lawmaker from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has said that it was becoming increasingly clear to Israelis that "all Gazans must be destroyed", Israeli media reported Tuesday.
Moshe Saada claimed that such calls had seeped across the political spectrum, with more supposedly moderate elements of Israeli society calling for Gaza in its current state to be destroyed entirely.
"My friends at the prosecutor's office, who fought with me on political matters, in debates, tell me, 'Moshe, it is clear that all the Gazans need to be destroyed,' and these are statements I have never heard," Saade told Channel 14.
Such statements proved that 'the right' was right on the issue, Saada said.
The remarks from Saada come as Israeli politicians make increasingly genocidal statements about Palestinians in Gaza, amid a brutal air and ground assault that has killed more than 22,000 people. Almost all of Gaza's population have been displaced from their homes since the assault began on 7 October.
While Israel has often claimed that its operation aims to eradicate Hamas, several politicians and lawmakers have called for Gaza as a whole to be destroyed.
In November, far-right minister Amichai Eliyahu said that dropping a nuclear weapon on the Gaza Strip is "an option", and has maintained that "there are no non-combatants in Gaza."
Both Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have in recent days reiterated their calls for Gazans to be pushed out of the territory.
Calls for Gaza to be ethnically cleansed have been slammed even by Israel's staunchest ally, the US.
Israel is reportedly looking into a plan to expel the Palestinian population to third countries including Congo.
The New Arab Staff
03 January, 2024
03 January, 2024
Israeli MK Moshe Saada said calls for Gaza and its population to be destroyed had seeped across the political spectrum.
Several Israeli ministers and lawmakers have called for Gaza to be ethnically cleansed of Palestinians [AFP via Getty]
An Israeli lawmaker from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has said that it was becoming increasingly clear to Israelis that "all Gazans must be destroyed", Israeli media reported Tuesday.
Moshe Saada claimed that such calls had seeped across the political spectrum, with more supposedly moderate elements of Israeli society calling for Gaza in its current state to be destroyed entirely.
"My friends at the prosecutor's office, who fought with me on political matters, in debates, tell me, 'Moshe, it is clear that all the Gazans need to be destroyed,' and these are statements I have never heard," Saade told Channel 14.
Such statements proved that 'the right' was right on the issue, Saada said.
The remarks from Saada come as Israeli politicians make increasingly genocidal statements about Palestinians in Gaza, amid a brutal air and ground assault that has killed more than 22,000 people. Almost all of Gaza's population have been displaced from their homes since the assault began on 7 October.
While Israel has often claimed that its operation aims to eradicate Hamas, several politicians and lawmakers have called for Gaza as a whole to be destroyed.
In November, far-right minister Amichai Eliyahu said that dropping a nuclear weapon on the Gaza Strip is "an option", and has maintained that "there are no non-combatants in Gaza."
In-depthJessica Buxbaum
Both Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have in recent days reiterated their calls for Gazans to be pushed out of the territory.
Calls for Gaza to be ethnically cleansed have been slammed even by Israel's staunchest ally, the US.
Israel is reportedly looking into a plan to expel the Palestinian population to third countries including Congo.
US slams ‘irresponsible’ calls by Smotrich and Ben Gvir for emigration of Gazans
State Dept issues rare, unprompted critique of ministers by name, days after Biden pressed PM to rein in far-right partners; Ben Gvir unfazed: ‘We are not another star in the US flag’
By JACOB MAGID 3 January 2024,
Religious Zionist party leader MK Bezalel Smotrich (right) with Otzma Yehudit party leader MK Itamar Ben Gvir in the Knesset plenum, December 28, 2022.
While rejecting the PA’s return, Netanyahu has offered few details on what political entity he wants to rule Gaza. His aides have spoken to reporters on condition of anonymity about the idea of “local Palestinian clan leaders” governing the Strip.
Palestinians flee the Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
Other right-wing members of the coalition, though, have been more forthcoming about their visions for Gaza after the war, expressing support for encouraging Palestinians to emigrate from Gaza and reestablishing settlements there.
Netanyahu has not personally addressed the uproar over such calls, which in recent days received a major boost from Smotrich and Ben Gvir, but his office has issued statements insisting they do not represent government policy.
“We want to encourage willful emigration, and we need to find countries willing to take them in,” Smotrich told Channel 12 on Saturday
“We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing,” Ben Gvir said in a faction meeting on Monday.
The war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,” Ben Gvir told reporters and members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party, calling such a policy “a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”
US President Joe Biden is greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Responding to these comments following the long holiday weekend in the US, the State Department’s spokesman said Tuesday, “We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the prime minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately.”
Miller’s statement came days after US President Joe Biden reportedly took Netanyahu to task on a phone call for failing to stand up to the hardliners in his coalition, which he said he’s done with the far-left flank of the Democratic party that is urging a ceasefire in Gaza. Biden was taking particular issue with Israel’s decision to withhold tens of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues from the PA. Smotrich reiterated his refusal as finance minister to transfer a single shekel to the PA.
Biden called out Ben Gvir publicly last month, lamenting that “Ben Gvir and company and the new folks don’t want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution.”
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As for the US position on Israeli settlements in Gaza, Miller reiterated, “We have been clear, consistent and unequivocal that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel.”
That stance appeared to put the US at odds with mainstream Israeli leaders such as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who have called for the IDF to establish a security buffer zone in Gaza after the war.
“That is the future we seek in the interests of Israelis and Palestinians, the surrounding region and the world,” Miller added.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, in Jerusalem on June 27, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
While Smotrich did not immediately respond to the US statement, Ben Gvir quickly issued a retort brushing off the criticism.
“I really admire the United States of America but with all due respect, we are not another star in the American flag,” Ben Gvir tweeted, repeating the same phrase he has previously used to respond to criticism from Washington.
“The United States is our best friend, but before everything else, we will do what is good for the State of Israel: The emigration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow residents [of the border area] to return home and live in security and protect IDF soldiers,” the far-right minister added.
The State Department’s criticism was echoed by US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who tweeted, “There should be no mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and we reject the recent inflammatory statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.”
Also calling out Smotrich was Rabbi Rick Jacobs, who heads the the Reform movement, the largest US Jewish denomination.
“We condemn Israeli Minister Smotrich’s call for ethnic cleansing,” Jacobs wrote on X. “Along with most major American Jewish leaders, we have refused to meet with him to sanction his politics and beliefs.”
State Dept issues rare, unprompted critique of ministers by name, days after Biden pressed PM to rein in far-right partners; Ben Gvir unfazed: ‘We are not another star in the US flag’
By JACOB MAGID 3 January 2024,
Religious Zionist party leader MK Bezalel Smotrich (right) with Otzma Yehudit party leader MK Itamar Ben Gvir in the Knesset plenum, December 28, 2022.
(Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The US State Department on Tuesday called out far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir for advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.
“This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a relatively rare, unprompted statement calling out a pair of Israeli ministers by name.
The statement underscored growing frustration in Washington with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which the Biden administration has continued to support diplomatically and militarily in the war against Hamas but has increasingly sparred with regarding planning for Gaza once the fighting ends.
For months, Netanyahu has bucked US requests to begin planning for who will govern the Gaza Strip after the war, ostensibly recognizing that his far-right coalition partners would reject proposals that do not include Israel’s re-occupation and re-settlement of Gaza — which the security establishment, Washington and even the premier himself oppose.
After weeks of silence on the issue, Netanyahu began what two US officials last month characterized to The Times of Israel as a “political campaign,” in which he has repeatedly vowed not to allow the Palestinian Authority to again rule Gaza.
The US State Department on Tuesday called out far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir for advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.
“This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a relatively rare, unprompted statement calling out a pair of Israeli ministers by name.
The statement underscored growing frustration in Washington with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which the Biden administration has continued to support diplomatically and militarily in the war against Hamas but has increasingly sparred with regarding planning for Gaza once the fighting ends.
For months, Netanyahu has bucked US requests to begin planning for who will govern the Gaza Strip after the war, ostensibly recognizing that his far-right coalition partners would reject proposals that do not include Israel’s re-occupation and re-settlement of Gaza — which the security establishment, Washington and even the premier himself oppose.
After weeks of silence on the issue, Netanyahu began what two US officials last month characterized to The Times of Israel as a “political campaign,” in which he has repeatedly vowed not to allow the Palestinian Authority to again rule Gaza.
While rejecting the PA’s return, Netanyahu has offered few details on what political entity he wants to rule Gaza. His aides have spoken to reporters on condition of anonymity about the idea of “local Palestinian clan leaders” governing the Strip.
Palestinians flee the Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
Other right-wing members of the coalition, though, have been more forthcoming about their visions for Gaza after the war, expressing support for encouraging Palestinians to emigrate from Gaza and reestablishing settlements there.
Netanyahu has not personally addressed the uproar over such calls, which in recent days received a major boost from Smotrich and Ben Gvir, but his office has issued statements insisting they do not represent government policy.
“We want to encourage willful emigration, and we need to find countries willing to take them in,” Smotrich told Channel 12 on Saturday
“We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing,” Ben Gvir said in a faction meeting on Monday.
The war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,” Ben Gvir told reporters and members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party, calling such a policy “a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”
US President Joe Biden is greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Responding to these comments following the long holiday weekend in the US, the State Department’s spokesman said Tuesday, “We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the prime minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately.”
Miller’s statement came days after US President Joe Biden reportedly took Netanyahu to task on a phone call for failing to stand up to the hardliners in his coalition, which he said he’s done with the far-left flank of the Democratic party that is urging a ceasefire in Gaza. Biden was taking particular issue with Israel’s decision to withhold tens of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues from the PA. Smotrich reiterated his refusal as finance minister to transfer a single shekel to the PA.
Biden called out Ben Gvir publicly last month, lamenting that “Ben Gvir and company and the new folks don’t want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution.”
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As for the US position on Israeli settlements in Gaza, Miller reiterated, “We have been clear, consistent and unequivocal that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel.”
That stance appeared to put the US at odds with mainstream Israeli leaders such as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who have called for the IDF to establish a security buffer zone in Gaza after the war.
“That is the future we seek in the interests of Israelis and Palestinians, the surrounding region and the world,” Miller added.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, in Jerusalem on June 27, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
While Smotrich did not immediately respond to the US statement, Ben Gvir quickly issued a retort brushing off the criticism.
“I really admire the United States of America but with all due respect, we are not another star in the American flag,” Ben Gvir tweeted, repeating the same phrase he has previously used to respond to criticism from Washington.
“The United States is our best friend, but before everything else, we will do what is good for the State of Israel: The emigration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow residents [of the border area] to return home and live in security and protect IDF soldiers,” the far-right minister added.
The State Department’s criticism was echoed by US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who tweeted, “There should be no mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and we reject the recent inflammatory statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.”
Also calling out Smotrich was Rabbi Rick Jacobs, who heads the the Reform movement, the largest US Jewish denomination.
“We condemn Israeli Minister Smotrich’s call for ethnic cleansing,” Jacobs wrote on X. “Along with most major American Jewish leaders, we have refused to meet with him to sanction his politics and beliefs.”
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