France has described comments made by Israeli Ministers calling for Palestinians to be forcibly displaced from Gaza and Jewish settlers to return to the besieged territory as “provocative.”
“France condemns the comments of Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
On Saturday, Smotrich said that Israelis would “make the desert bloom” if only 100,000 Palestinians lived in Gaza. The current population of Gaza is 2.3 million.
A day later, Ben-Gvir made a similar appeal, saying it was “a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”
“We call on Israel to refrain from such provocative declarations, which are irresponsible and fuel tension,” the French foreign ministry added.
The US state department has also pushed back against suggestions that Israel could expel Palestinians from Gaza as part of a “day after” scenario for the war.
A statement issued by the US State Department labelled Israeli Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir’s statements as “inflammatory and irresponsible.”
Matthew Miller said that “there should be no mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.”
“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,” Miller said.
“That is the future we seek, in the interests of Israelis and Palestinians, the surrounding region, and the world,” Miller added.
Rights advocates have slammed war-time calls to push Palestinians out of Gaza, calling them efforts to ethnically cleanse the besieged Palestinian enclave for good.
Ben-Gvir Reasserts Stance
In a post after the US State Department criticised his call for a population transfer as “inflammatory and irresponsible,” Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, reasserted his stance.
Condemning U.S opposition to his previously stated push for the transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza, Ben-Gvir noted on X, “With all due respect, we are not another star on the American flag.”
He stated, “The United States is our best friend, but first of all, we will do what is best for the State of Israel.”
“The migration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow [Israeli] residents of the enclave to return home and live in security and will protect the soldiers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Israel has been conducting negotiations with Congo and other nations about taking Palestinians who would agree to a “voluntary” resettlement.
The report, initially carried by a Hebrew news site, cited a senior source in the security cabinet saying “Congo will be willing to take in migrants, and we’re in talks with others.”
The site also quoted Israel’s Intelligence Minister, Gila Gamliel advocating for the displacement of Gaza residents.
“At the end of the war… There will be no work, and 60% of Gaza’s agricultural land will become security buffer zones,” the site reported Gamliel as saying.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has previously said it is not his government’s position to force “voluntary” resettlement of people of Gaza, and he has been critical of the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and Ben-Gvir for supporting the idea of emptying Gaza of Palestinians in public, without going so far as to dismiss them from his government.
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