Smotrich: Israel will not stop until Gazans displaced, Syria partitioned
Extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel will only stop its invasion of Gaza when “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians are forcibly displaced and Syria is dismembered as a state.
“We will end this campaign …when Gaza is cleansed of Hamas and hundreds of thousands of Gazans are on their way out of it to other countries,” he said in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
His remarks underscore the Israeli regime’s obstinance to carry out the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, first suggested by US President Donald Trump.
Emboldened by the announcement, Israel resumed its war on Gaza in March, breaching a brief ceasefire brokered by the US. It has since been pummeling Gaza, practically making the territory uninhabitable in an apparent bid to force Palestinians to leave it.
For the past 50 days, Israel has prevented humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where hundreds of civilians have been killed in intensified attacks.
The occupying regime has also lobbied countries to accept forcibly displaced Palestinians, even though the Israeli plans do not appear to stop there.
In his remarks, Smotrich called for the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah to be “severely beaten,” suggesting that Israel is set to keep its forces in southern Lebanon.
He also called for Syria to be dismembered as a state, despite de-facto leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani’s overtures not to threaten Israel and even hinting at potential normalization with the regime.
In early April, Smotrich said in a statement to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth that “not even a grain of wheat will enter Gaza.”
In total, Israel has killed at least 52,365 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded 117,905 others in Gaza since October 2023.
Israel also destroyed vast parts of the blockaded Palestinian territory, including most of its food production capabilities.
Around 90 percent of the population is displaced, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.
