Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said Israel would stop its military operations only if “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians are removed from Gaza and Syria is partitioned, among other conditions, The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.
“With God’s help and the valor of your comrades-in-arms who continue to fight even now, we will end this campaign when Syria is dismantled, Hezbollah is severely beaten, Iran is stripped of its nuclear threat, Gaza is cleansed of Hamas and hundreds of thousands of Gazans are on their way out of it to other countries, our hostages are returned, some to their homes and some to the graves of Israel, and the State of Israel is stronger and more prosperous,” Smotrich said in a speech at a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
Smotrich, a West Bank settler himself, is a major proponent of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the collective punishment of the civilian population. He said last year that it may be “moral and justified” for Israel to starve millions of Palestinians in Gaza to death.
Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, has significant power in the Israeli government and threatened to quit the coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t break the ceasefire deal that was signed in January and restart the genocidal war after the first phase was completed.
Addressing Netanyahu in his speech on Tuesday, Smotrich said it was the “hour to change the history of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
“The government of Israel and the entire people of Israel will be with you and behind you in the decision to do everything in our power to fortify Israel’s security. You, and we, have no mandate to miss this opportune moment,” Smotrich added.
Smotrich recently visited the US and received a warm welcome from the Trump administration. He met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and thanked the administration for the “unequivocal support of the State of Israel in the critical war of existence we are waging.”
