Israel should annex a section of Gaza every week for four weeks, according to Smotrich during a press conference on Thursday.
He claimed that Israel would first place a siege on Gaza’s north and center regions before annexing the area and then instructing Palestinians to move south in the area.
Smotrich praised the measures as part of a “win in Gaza by the end of the year” and said that “these can be achieved in three to four months.”
The far-right minister’s call to annex Gaza City comes as the Israeli army enlists even more to seize the city and forcefully reinstall its residents, according to the far-right minister.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week that the campaign would result in “massive death and destruction” for Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza City.
Gaza City and the surrounding areas are still suffering from famine as a result of Israel’s continued blockade of humanitarian aid.
According to Guterres, “famine is no longer a looming possibility; it is a present-day catastrophe.”
“Famine is killing people,” says the statement. Displacement and despair are tearing apart families. The systems that sustain life, such as food, water, and healthcare, have been systematically destroyed, and pregnant women are exposed to unimaginable risks.
Israel and its Western allies have long urged Hamas to stop using its weapons, saying that any future Gaza-governance will be decided by the Palestinian group.
Smotrich’s comments on Thursday were disregarded by Hamas, saying they were “an official call to exterminate our people” and “an official acknowledgement of the use of starvation and siege against innocent civilians as a weapon.”
Hamas claimed in a statement that “Smotrich’s statement is not an isolated extremist opinion, but rather a declared government policy that has been in effect since the enclave’s war against Palestinians.”
The group further urged the international community to hold Israeli leaders accountable and stated that these statements confirm the reality of the occupation and that what is happening in Gaza is not a “military battle” but a “project of genocide and mass displacement.
Smotrich demanded that Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, “adopt his annexation plan in full immediately” during his press conference.
Netanyahu did not directly address Smotrich’s remarks. However, the Israeli leader has made reference to a strategy by which Israel would “take control of all Gaza” and dispatch troops to retake control of the region.
For weeks, Israel’s military has been issuing forcible evacuation orders to Palestinians who are residing in so-called “combat zones” to relocate to southern Gaza.
Smotrich, a major supporter of Israel’s settler movement and resident of an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, has backed re-establishing illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip, which were shut down in 2005.
Source: Aljazeera
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