The Biden administration continues to clash with Israel over Gaza war policy, especially the question of the "day after" Hamas and how the Gaza Strip will be administrated. The White House has sought to advance a plan that would see the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) under Mahmoud Abbas eventually take control of the Strip. Prime Minister Netanyahu has been adamant in rejecting this, decrying the PA as terror sympathizers and supporters.
Washington on Tuesday condemned remarks by two top Israeli ministers who expressed a policy of fostering the migration of Palestinians from the Strip. Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir both said Monday they not only want "encourage the migration" of Palestinians from Gaza but they want to begin establishing Jewish settlements in place of Palestinian homes.
In October, a UN expert warned that Israel's actions were tantamount to textbook ethnic cleansing, given it sets forth a systematic vision of expelling people from their homes and land based on ethnicity.
Here's what the controversial ministers said, according to Israeli media translation:
The war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,” Ben Gvir told reporters and members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party, calling such a policy “a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”
“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 said.
The “correct solution” to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “to encourage the voluntary migration of Gaza’s residents to countries that will agree to take in the refugees,” Smotrich told members of his Religious Zionism party, predicting that “Israel will permanently control the territory of the Gaza Strip,” including through the establishment of settlements.
Supporters of this plan have previously urged Arab countries like Egypt or Qatar to take in expelled Palestinians. Arab leaders have reacted fiercely against the statements, rejecting that it's so much as a possibility that can be broached.
Importantly, the US State Department issued the following swift rebuke on the same day the statements were made by the Israeli officials: "The United States rejects recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible," State Department spokesman Matt Miller said at a briefing.
Miller also noted this is not the official policy of the Netanyahu government, saying the Biden administration has been informed "repeatedly and consistently by the Government of Israel, including by the Prime Minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately."
But it remains that Netanyahu has been on record as seeking to convince Arab countries to "absorb" Palestinians, a policy he repeated only last week at a Likud party meeting.
Following the State Department's rebuke, Ben Gvir didn't back down but actually hit back, saying “We highly value America’s friendship, but respectfully, we aren’t another star on the American flag." He added: "We’ll do what’s best for Israel: facilitating the relocation of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow those in the Israeli-Gaza border communities to return home and live securely while safeguarding the IDF soldiers."
Still, the US has refused to impose 'conditions' on Israel's use of American-supplied weaponry, and has done nothing to slow the flow of defense aid, which Israeli forces have been using on Gaza in the fight against Hamas.