Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump’s plan to remove Palestinians from war-battered Gaza was “taking shape”, despite widespread rejection by governments in the region.
“This plan is taking shape, with ongoing actions in coordination with the (US) administration,” Smotrich told an event in the Israeli parliament, adding that preparations were underway to form a managing body that would oversee displacement.
“This has the potential to create a historic change in the Middle East and for the state of Israel,” said Smotrich, who has repeatedly backed resuming the war against Hamas and has expressed support for re-establishing permanent Israeli presence in the territory.
The plan proposed by Trump would require finding countries willing to take in at least some of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people, Smotrich noted.
“It involves identifying key countries, understanding their interests -- both with the US and with us -- and fostering cooperation,” he said.
Implementing the plan, which other Israeli leaders have welcomed but Palestinians, Arab governments and some world leaders have condemned, would be a massive logistical operation, said Smotrich.
“Just to give you an idea -- if we remove 10,000 people a day, seven days a week, it will take six months,” he said.
“If we remove 5,000 people a day, it will take a year. Of course, this is assuming we have countries willing to take them, but these are very, very, very long processes.”
Experts have said that forcibly removing Gazans would amount to a violation of international law.
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Just days after he took office, Trump triggered global outrage when he suggested the US take over Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.
Last week, an Arab counterproposal to Trump’s plan was put forward, with several Islamic nations and European governments endorsing it.
The Arab proposal aims to rebuild Gaza without displacing Gazans, who endured more than 15 months of devastating war before a fragile ceasefire took effect on January 19.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the Arab plan was a “good-faith first step from the Egyptians”, even as other Israeli and US officials have expressed reservations.
Smotrich said he was pushing for Trump’s plan to happen, calling it “an opportunity to bring an end to the conflict” between Israel and the Palestinians.
Since Israel’s creation in 1948 and “until today, we have been dragging this along for 76 years, searching for solutions... With the current (US) administration, we will do much more,” Smotrich said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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