Israeli statements on the repopulation of Gaza – sharp criticism from the US Increasing success in the fight against drug trafficking – cocaine smuggling will continue to increase

The US State Department has sharply criticized statements by the Israeli government regarding the possible expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. “The United States rejects recent statements by Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir in favor of relocating Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in Washington on Tuesday. “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’s line, Miller emphasized. “You must stop immediately.” The Gaza Strip is Palestinian land and will remain so if Hamas is no longer in control there.

Right-wing extremist Police Minister Ben-Gvir immediately banned any US criticism on the issue: “I highly appreciate the United States of America, but with all due respect, Israel is not just another star on the American flag,” he said. wrote on the X platform: “The exodus of hundreds of thousands from the Gaza Strip will allow residents of Gaza’s periphery to return home. The United States is our good friend, but above all we will do what is best for Israel,” Ben-Gvir added.

He and the also right-wing extremist Finance Minister Smotrich had spoken out in favor of the Israeli repopulation of the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas. Ben-Gvir said Monday that the war was an opportunity to promote the “resettlement of Gaza residents.” Smotrich told Israeli Army Radio on Sunday that if Israel does things right, there will be an exodus of Palestinians “and we will live in the Gaza Strip.”

Smotrich is considered a champion of the “Greater Israel” vision and is also committed to the annexation of 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 areas in 1967.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and more than twenty Israeli settlements were evacuated. For the United Nations, the Gaza Strip remains territory occupied by Israel because it controls all access points except one border crossing. Israel claims the occupation ended with the withdrawal in 2005.

The US is clearly against Israel’s reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. They also reject the forced displacement of the 2.2 million Palestinians living in the narrow coastal strip. The US wants a reformed Palestinian Authority to take control after the war. However, Netanyahu rejects this. He wants the army to maintain security control even after the war and calls for the demilitarization of Gaza. (sda/dpa)