Smotrich: Gaza is part of the land of Israel and we will not transfer it from one Arab to another

SadaNews - The head of the Religious Zionism party and Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said today, Tuesday, that the Gaza Strip is "an integral part of the land of Israel."

Smotrich's remarks came during a conference held by the "Gush Katif Heritage Center" to mark the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the disengagement plan from Gaza.

Smotrich stated, "We have been saying for twenty years that this is a wish, and now this is also a realistic action plan. We did not sacrifice these costs to transfer Gaza from one Arab to another. Gaza is an integral part of the land of Israel."

He added, "I do not want to return to Gush Katif (the former settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip), it is very small. This (settlement) should be much larger and much broader. Gaza allows for larger thinking."

He continued, "No one in the world will allow us to wage war and eliminate Hamas and the threat from Gaza if we starve two million citizens."

Smotrich addressed the situation in the occupied West Bank, stating, "We are implementing a revolution there. We are imposing actual sovereignty, construction through legalization (i.e., legalizing settlement outposts), confiscations, and changing the entire system's DNA, and paving roads." He said the current government will impose official Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.

Smotrich announced yesterday morning that he will not withdraw from the government for now due to Netanyahu's decision, on Saturday, to allow aid into the Gaza Strip and a daily ceasefire for several hours.

Due to the ongoing extremist statements, the Netherlands decided to ban Israeli ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich from entering its territory due to their calls for ethnic cleansing in Gaza and their incitement to violence against Palestinians.