Gaza Strip
\nEuropean governments hit out at statements from two far-right Israeli ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
\nFinance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism Party, on Wednesday doubled down on a call for \u201cvoluntary emigration\u201d from Gaza once the current Israel-Hamas war ends, despite criticism from the United States.
\nAnd Itamar Ben-Gvir, national security minister and leader of the ultra-nationalist Otzma Yehudit party, this week issued a call \u201cto encourage the migration of Gaza residents\u201d as a \u201csolution\u201d to the humanitarian crisis.
\nThis \u201cwill allow us [Israel] to bring home the residents of the Outaf and the residents of Gush Katif,\u201d he said, referring to former Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
\nJosep Borrell, the EU\u2019s top foreign policy official, condemned the calls to resettle Palestinians living in Gaza as \u201cinflammatory and irresponsible\u201d on Wednesday. \u201cForced displacements are strictly prohibited as a grave violation of [international humanitarian law] and words matter,\u201d Borrell said on X.
\nIn what appeared to be a coordinated move, the U.K.\u2019s Foreign Office minister Tariq Ahmad wrote on the same platform that \u201cwe deplore inflammatory remarks by Israeli Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir.\u201d
\nA spokesperson for the U.K. Foreign Office said: \u201cGaza is Occupied Palestinian Territory and will be part of a future Palestinian state. The U.K. firmly rejects any suggestion of the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.\u201d
\nAnd the Spanish government also offered its own rebuke Wednesday, saying the administration \u201crejects recent statements by members of the Government of Israel evoking population movements in Gaza that would be contrary to international law.
\n\u201cSpain reiterates the urgent need to respect international law and international humanitarian law and to guarantee the protection of the civilian population.\u200b
\nThe reactions come after the Biden administration issued its own statement describing the two ministers\u2019 words as \u201cinflammatory and irresponsible.\u201d
\nSmotrich had argued that voluntary resettlement of the Gaza Strip was needed post-war because Israel could not continue to neighbor a \u201chotbed of hatred and terrorism, where two million people wake up every morning with aspiration for the destruction of the State of Israel and with a desire to slaughter and rape and murder Jews wherever they are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gaza Strip European governments hit out at statements from two far-right Israeli ministers calling for the resettlement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism Party, on Wednesday doubled down on a call for \u201cvoluntary emigration\u201d from Gaza once the current Israel-Hamas war ends, despite criticism from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-378735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n