Bezalel Smotrich has described the enclave\u2019s population as \u201c1.8 million Nazis\u201d and called for the territory to be completely taken over, while denying this would constitute genocide<\/p>\n
Gaza should be wiped out entirely, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said, describing its inhabitants as \u201cNazis\u201d and demanding that Israel take the entire territory for \u201cZionist and security reasons.\u201d
\nSpeaking at a public event on Monday, the Religious Zionist Party leader defended his previous endorsement of a call to wipe out Huwara, a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank. He claimed critics had misrepresented his remarks as advocating the killing of women and children.
\n\u201cYes, we need to wipe out Gaza, for example. Not commit genocide, God forbid,\u201d Smotrich said.
\nHe described Gaza as a \u201cterror entity with 1.8 million Nazis\u201d educated over generations to hate Israel, claiming they were capable of slaughter, rape and murdering children. Such an entity \u201cshould not exist,\u201d he said, adding that the same applied to Huwara.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
What three years of the Gaza war reveal about Israel and the world<\/p>\n
Smotrich went on to demand full Israeli ownership of the enclave. \u201cI don\u2019t want Gush Katif. I want all of Gaza,\u201d he said, referring to the Israeli settlement bloc evacuated in 2005. \u201cI want Gaza to be ours. I want it for Zionist reasons. I want it for security reasons.\u201d
\nSmotrich and fellow coalition minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have repeatedly advocated renewed Israeli settlement in Gaza. Last month, Ben-Gvir unveiled a proposal to move most residents abroad over seven years under the label \u201cvoluntary migration,\u201d despite Palestinians\u2019 opposition to leaving.
\nSmotrich, a West Bank settler who also oversees civilian affairs in the occupied territory, has backed settlement expansion intended to prevent Palestinian statehood. In July, he announced more than $400 million for 34 new settlements. The E1 project east of Jerusalem has drawn international condemnation for threatening to fragment a future Palestinian state.
\nThe expansion has accompanied escalating settler violence. UN figures cited in July showed that at least 117 Palestinian communities had been completely or partially displaced by settler attacks.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Israeli attacks leave more dead in Gaza as ceasefire nears one year<\/p>\n
The territorial rhetoric has also extended beyond Gaza and the West Bank. Netanyahu has expressed support for a \u201cGreater Israel\u201d vision while US envoy to Israel Mike Huckabee told Tucker Carlson in February that \u201cit would be fine if they took it all\u201d\u00a0when asked about Jewish biblical claims stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates.
\nA UN commission concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza while the International Criminal Court has separately issued warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel has rejected the accusations.
\nIsrael launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians. More than 74,000 Palestinians, including at least 21,000 children, have since been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bezalel Smotrich has described the enclave\u2019s population as \u201c1.8 million Nazis\u201d and called for the territory to be completely taken over, while denying this would constitute genocide Gaza should be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t