‘They Call for Ethnic Cleansing’: Palestinians Condemn Israeli Colonialists Call for Resettling Gaza
Hundreds of Israeli colonialists gathered on Sunday for a conference in al-Quds that urged the occupying regime to rebuild illegal settlements in Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
The conference, organized by Nahala, a right-wing group that promotes Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied territories, drew support from several members of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition. Twelve ministers from Netanyahu’s Likud party, as well as the public security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, both of far-right parties, attended the event.
The conference’s theme, “Settlement Brings Security,” reflected the colonialists’ belief that ending occupation in Gaza and northern West Bank had undermined their security.
“We knew what that would bring and we tried to prevent it,” Smotrich said in a speech, Reuters reported. “Without settlements there is no security.”
The crowd chanted slogans calling for the resettlement of Gaza, where the Israeli regime’s relentless bombardment since October has killed more than 26,000 people and displaced most of the 2.3 million population.
Read More:
Ben Gvir said he had protested the Gaza pullout and warned that it would lead to “rockets upon Sderot” and “rockets upon Ashkelon,” two towns near the Gaza border.
“We yelled and we warned,” Ben Gvir said. “If we don’t want another October 7, we need to return home and control the land.”
The conference outlined plans for 21 new settlements, including six on lands where Palestinian villages had been demolished by Israeli forces. The organizers said they had already submitted their proposals to the government and hoped to receive approval soon.
Ramallah slams conference
Palestinian officials condemned the conference and its agenda, saying it revealed the true intentions of the Israeli right-wing cabinet.
“This meeting and its agenda once again reveal the true face of the Israeli right-wing coalition government, including its rejection of peace and persistence in pursuing the occupation, colonialism and the apartheid regime,” the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement, WAFA News Agency reported.
The ministry also held Netanyahu and his government “fully and directly responsible” for the incitement and provocation of the settlers and their leaders.
Participants called for ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza
Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative party, told Al Jazeera that the conference showed “the nature of this Israeli government.”
“Sixteen members of the Israeli Knesset participated, so that’s not a joke,” Barghouti said. “These are the people who are making the policy in Israel. And they were calling for ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”
Barghouti dismissed the colonialists’ calls for “voluntary” migration of Palestinians as “some kind of deceit.”
“What kind of voluntary migration when they bombard people around the clock and force them from the north to the south, from the center to the south,” Barghouti said.
Read More:
He also said that the Israeli politicians at the conference showed “no respect to international law” and that the international community had been silent in the face of Israel’s violations.
He added that the United States was “continuing to say that settlements are illegal, but instead of punishing them, they are punishing the Palestinians,” referring to the US decision to stop funding Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
