Israeli minister says war offers opportunity to encourage Palestinians to leave Gaza

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday that the war in Gaza is an opportunity to encourage Palestinians to migrate from the enclave as the Israeli army continues its devastating onslaught against it.

In a statement, Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, said the "war presents an opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza," refusing to acknowledge their national identity or call them Palestinians.

He added that Israel has partners around the world that could help absorb numbers of Palestinians from Gaza but did not mention their names.

Ben-Gvir also said that encouraging Palestinians to leave Gaza would allow Israelis residing around the Gaza Strip to return to their settlements.

"We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing," he added.

Ben-Gvir's statements contradict the US position on Gaza, which clearly objects to Israel's permanent occupation of the enclave or the idea of establishing settlements there.

In 2005, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to evacuate Israeli settlements in Gaza along with four settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip in the wake of a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 21,822 Palestinians have since been killed and 56,451 others injured, according to Gaza's health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.