Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hopes to see the relocation of the Palestinian population out of Gaza kicking off within weeks, according to an interview he gave to Israel’s Channel 12 News.
Speaking with N12’s Meet the Press on Saturday evening, Smotrich said preparations for the plan were already underway.
“Our team has begun preparing for it along with [President Trump’s] team,” the minister revealed hours before Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel ahead of his meetings with Israeli leaders.
When asked if Trump’s plan, which the president announced earlier this month during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, can be implemented, Smotrich said “of course.”
“I think most of [the Palestinians in Gaza] would want to [relocate],” he said, “It’s a process that I hope will already begin over the next few weeks, even if it’s in a slow pace that will slowly increase. Gazans have nothing to seek in Gaza over the next 10-15 years.”
Smotrich added that once Israel returns to combat and “all of Gaza looks like Jabalya, there will be nothing to seek there at all.”
Regarding the controversial plan itself, Smotrich said there are two components that must be carried out. “The first one, of course, is to find countries that can receive [the Gazans], and the second is the huge logistical operation [needed] to get such a large scope of people out of here.”
Earlier this month, President Trump made his most forceful proposal for the permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, calling it “hell” and insisting Palestinians have no choice but to permanently leave the Strip.
“People shouldn’t be going back to Gaza. Gaza has been very unlucky for them. they’ve lived like hell, like you’re living in hell. Gaza isn’t a place for people to be living. The only reason they want to go back is because they don’t have an alternative. they’d much rather live in a beautiful alternative that’s safe,” Trump said.
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