Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to disarm, the latest push by an Israeli official to forcibly displace Palestinians and take complete control of the coastal enclave.
During a news conference on Thursday, Smotrich said if Hamas does not agree to surrender, disarm and release Israeli captives, Israel should annex a section of Gaza each week for four weeks.
He said Palestinians would first be told to move south in Gaza, followed by Israel imposing a siege on the territory’s north and centre regions, and ending with annexation.
“This can be achieved in three to four months,” said Smotrich, describing the measures as part of a plan to “win in Gaza by the end of the year”.
The far-right minister’s annexation push comes as the Israeli army has advanced deeper into Gaza City in an effort to seize the city and forcibly displace about one million Palestinians living there.
Israel’s intensified attacks on Gaza City have been widely condemned, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning last week that the campaign would cause “massive death and destruction”.
Meanwhile, Gaza City and the surrounding areas continue to experience famine as Israel continues to block food, water and other humanitarian aid from entering the Strip.
“Famine is no longer a looming possibility; it’s a present-day catastrophe,” Guterres said on Thursday.
“People are dying of hunger. Families are being torn apart by displacement and despair. Pregnant women are facing unimaginable risks, and the systems that sustain life – food, water, healthcare – have been systematically dismantled.”
Israel and its Western allies have long been pushing for Hamas to lay down its weapons, insisting that the Palestinian group cannot be involved in any future governance of Gaza.
Hamas rejected Smotrich’s remarks on Thursday, saying they represent “an official call to exterminate our people” as well as “an official admission of the use of starvation and siege against innocent civilians as a weapon”.
“Smotrich’s statement is not an isolated extremist opinion, but rather a declared government policy that has been implemented for nearly 23 months” of Israel’s war on Palestinians in the enclave, Hamas said in a statement.
“These statements expose the reality of the occupation to the world and confirm that what is happening in Gaza is not a ‘military battle’ but rather a project of genocide and mass displacement,” the group added, urging the international community to hold Israeli leaders accountable.
During his news conference, Smotrich called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt his annexation plan “in full immediately”.
Netanyahu did not comment publicly on Smotrich’s remarks. But the Israeli leader has alluded to a plan for Israel to “take control of all Gaza” and send troops to reoccupy the entire enclave.
Israel’s military has for weeks been issuing forcible evacuation notices to Palestinians in so-called “combat zones” to relocate to southern Gaza.
Smotrich, a major backer of Israel’s settler movement who himself lives in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, has expressed support for re-establishing illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip that were dismantled in 2005.
He and other far-right members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition also have voiced staunch opposition to efforts to reach a deal to end Israel’s war on Gaza, threatening to topple the government if an agreement is reached.
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