Indonesia Condemns Israeli Ministers’ Statement regarding Expulsion of Gaza Residents

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesia condemns and strongly rejects the statements of two Israeli Ministers of Israeli Occupation who proposed the expulsion of Gaza residents and the start of construction of Jewish settlements in Gaza.

“This statement is very provocative, contrary to international law and does not respect the rights of the Palestinian people,” wrote the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X on Saturday.

Therefore, Indonesia urges the international community to prevent the statement from becoming a reality.

Apart from Indonesia, a number of countries also criticized statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who advocated the expulsion of Gaza residents and Israeli settlements in Gaza.

Smotrich said the presence of settlers in the Gaza Strip would help Israel control the territory militarily. He also said that Palestinians should be encouraged to move to other countries.

“If we had acted in the right way strategically and encouraged emigration, if there had been 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza instead of two million, the whole discourse of the day after [the war] would have been very different,” he said.

Smotrich’s comments were followed by Ben-Gvir. He said Israel must promote solutions to encourage emigration of Gaza residents.

Even though two of its ministers have made these comments, the Israeli government has so far not officially announced any plans regarding Gaza. (L/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)