USA condemns Israeli expulsion plans
After winning the war against Hamas, two Netanyahu cabinet ministers can imagine an Israeli seizure of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians should be resettled. There is a clear headwind from the US State Department.
The US State Department has sharply criticized statements from Israel's government on the possible expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. "The United States rejects recent statements by Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip," said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington. "This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible."
The Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly assured that such statements do not represent the government line, Miller emphasized. "They should stop immediately." The Gaza Strip is Palestinian land and will remain so even if Hamas is no longer in control there.
"We will live in the Gaza Strip"
The two far-right Israeli ministers had spoken out in favor of an Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas. Police Minister Ben-Gvir said on Monday that the war was an opportunity to promote the "resettlement of Gaza Strip residents". Finance Minister Smotrich told the Israeli army radio station on Sunday that if Israel proceeds correctly, there will be an exodus of Palestinians "and we will live in the Gaza Strip". Smotrich is considered an advocate of the vision of "Greater Israel" and is also in favor of annexing the West Bank.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, claim the West Bank, Gaza and the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem as the territory of a future state of their own. Israel conquered the territories in 1967. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and evacuated more than 20 Israeli settlements. For the United Nations, the Gaza Strip is still occupied territory for Israel because it controls all but one border crossing. Israel maintains that the occupation ended with the withdrawal in 2005.
The USA is clearly opposed to Israel reoccupying the Gaza Strip. It also rejects the forced expulsion of the 2.2 million Palestinians living in the narrow coastal strip. The USA wants a reformed Palestinian Authority to take control after the war. However, Netanyahu rejects this. He wants the army to retain security control even after the war and is calling for Gaza to be demilitarized.
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The United States has expressed its disapproval of Israel's potential plans to resettle Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, as suggested by Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Despite Israel's assurances that such statements do not reflect their government line, the US State Department strongly advocates against the resettlement of Palestinians and the forced expulsion from the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip, a territory occupied by Israel according to the UN, is considered Palestinian land, even in the event of Hamas's departure.
Source: www.ntv.de
