A key figure in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government today called on Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip to leave the besieged enclave to allow the Israelis to “make the desert bloom,” Reuters reported, citing BTA.
The agency noted that the remarks by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is not part of Israel’s wartime cabinet, and the discussions on the post-war situation in Gaza, have reinforced the fears of much of the Arab world that Israel aims to push the Palestinians out of the territory, on which they want to create their country.
“What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration,” Smotrich said.
“Most Israelis would say, ‘Why not? It’s a nice place. Let’s make the desert bloom, it’s not at anyone’s expense,” he added.
There are still no conditions for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, says the Lebanese diplomat and scientist, former Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh, who currently lives in Paris, in an interview with “Ash Sharq al-Awsat”.
“Are the Palestinians ready to play the historic role of creating a viable Palestinian state? My answer is no,” Salame said, quoted by BTA. According to him, “Hamas” is not acceptable, and the Palestinian Authority is incapable. There is a Palestinian vacuum and a new, credible and acceptable Palestinian actor is needed.
On the other side of the equation, an Israeli side is needed, but at the moment it is not there either, the diplomat points out.
“We have an extremist government that is very openly against a two-state solution. This position is not only expressed by extreme ministers like Betzalel Smotrich, but even by the prime minister. The military cabinet is also very extreme.”
In order to find a solution, a mediator between the Israelis and the Palestinians is needed, Salameh continues. According to him, the only mediator who can influence Israel is the United States. “They sent an aircraft carrier to deter Israel’s enemies and decided to add $14 billion to the four billion they already pay Israel every year. They also prevent the UN Security Council from voting on the resolution, which has the support of the other 14 Article. Thus, Washington has real means of putting pressure on Israel that no one else, including Europe and China, has.”
The problem is that the mediator – the United States – is missing, since American President Joe Biden, since his time as a senator and for 40 years, has been on the side of Israel, and this did not change after he became the head of state, says Ghassan Salameh.
2023-12-31 21:52:13
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