Arab states slam Israeli calls for Gazans’ emigration
International Desk
Several Persian Gulf Arab states on Thursday strongly condemned comments by two Israeli ministers calling for Palestinians to emigrate from the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for promoting “a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents” and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, a day after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made similar comments, AFP reported.
Saudi Arabia “categorically condemns and rejects the comments of the two ministers”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The kingdom called on the international community to act in the face of the Israeli cabinet’s “persistence” in violating international law “through its statements and actions”.
Qatar, which played a mediating role in the temporary truce between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas at the end of November, also “condemned in the strongest terms” the comments made by the two ministers.
“The policy of collective punishment and forced displacement practiced by the occupation authorities against the inhabitants of Gaza will not change the fact that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian,” reads a statement published by Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.
Kuwait followed suit, warning against “Israeli plans to displace Gaza residents in particular, and the Palestinian people in general”.
The United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020, also “condemned in the strongest terms the extremist statements” of the two ministers.
The United States, France and the European Union have also denounced the comments.
The Israeli cabinet under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not officially suggested plans to evict Gazans or to send Jewish settlers back to the territory since the conflict broke out in October.
The fighting erupted after Hamas resistance group attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of around 1,140 people.
In response, Israel launched bombardment and a ground invasion that has reduced swathes of Gaza to rubble and claimed at least 22,600 people lives, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The vast majority of Gaza’s residents have been forced out of their homes by nearly three months of war.
Israel’s defense minister has also publicly presented for the first-time proposals for the post-war administration of Gaza.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s plan for the “day after”, shared with the media late Thursday but not yet adopted by Israel’s war cabinet, says that neither Israel nor Hamas will govern Gaza and rejects future Jewish settlements there.
The minister’s broad outline was unveiled on the eve of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s fourth trip to the region since October 7.
Questions over the future of the besieged Palestinian territory have multiplied as Israel insists it will continue with its military operations despite international calls for a cease-fire.
Much of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble, while civilian deaths have soared.
Bombing continued in the southern areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah as well as parts of central Gaza, according to AFP correspondents.
The Gaza health ministry on Friday said it had recorded 162 deaths in 24 hours.