Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Knesset on May 23, 2023. (Credit: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said the proposal currently on the table for a cease-fire in Gaza and an agreement to release the hostages is irrelevant. He instead supports the idea of colonizing the besieged and bombed Palestinian enclave by forcing the Palestinians to leave.
"We are currently on the right track in Gaza ... Ideas such as colonizing the Gaza Strip are welcome. Conquering Gaza is certainly an idea. But I must admit that this is not enough for me. I also want to encourage migration. I think we should allow Palestinians to leave their country voluntarily," he said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio.
Ben Gvir said he was "working hard with the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] to make this happen, and he was beginning to show some openness on the issue." He also said that Netanyahu "really does not want the Otzma Yehudit party, to which Ben Gvir belongs, to leave the government."
The far-right minister was the only one in the government to vote against the ceasefire declared at dawn on Wednesday between Hezbollah and Israel. He made his remarks while Hamas had just declared itself "open to discussing all ideas and proposals that will lead to the end of the war," according to the daily al-Chark al-Awsat. More than 44,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to figures from Hamas's health ministry.
