Hamas condemns the remarks of the Israeli Minister of Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich as “an official call to exterminate” Palestinians.
Posted on August 28, 2025
The Israeli Far -Right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called Israel to annex the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to disarm, the last push of an Israeli official to force the Palestinians and take total control of the coastal enclave.
At a press conference on Thursday, Smotrich said that if Hamas does not accept to yield, disarm and release the Israeli captives, Israel should annex a Gaza section each week for four weeks.
He said that the Palestinians would first be invited to move south in Gaza, followed by Israel imposing a seat in the northern and center of the territory, and ending with an annexation.
“This can be done in three to four months,” said Smotrich, describing the measures as part of a plan to “win in Gaza by the end of the year”.
The annexation push of the far -right minister occurs while the Israeli army has progressed more deeply in the city of Gaza in order to grasp the city and forcibly move around a million Palestinians who live there.
The intensified attacks of Israel against the city of Gaza were largely convicted, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warns last week that the campaign would lead to “death and massive destruction”.
Meanwhile, Gaza City and the surroundings continue to experience famine while Israel continues to block food, water and other humanitarian aids by entering the strip.
“Famine is no longer an imminent possibility; it is a current disaster,” Guterres said on Thursday.
“People are dying of hunger. Families are torn apart by displacement and despair. Pregnant women are faced with unimaginable risks, and systems that support life – food, water, health care – have been systematically dismantled. ”
Israel and its Western allies have long been pushing for the implementation of its weapons, emphasizing that the Palestinian group cannot be involved in any future governance of Gaza.
Hamas rejected Smotrich’s remarks on Thursday, saying that they represent “an official call to exterminate our people” as well as “the official admission of the use of famine and the siege against innocent civilians as an end”.
“Smotrich’s statement is not an isolated extremist opinion, but rather a declared government policy that has been implemented for almost 23 months” of the War of Israel against the Palestinians in the enclave, Hamas said in a statement.
“These statements expose the reality of occupation to the world and confirm that what is happening in Gaza is not a” military battle “but rather a project of genocide and mass movement,” added the group, urging the international community to hold responsible Israeli leaders.
During his press conference, Smotrich called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt his annexation plan “in full immediately”.
Netanyahu did not publicly comment on Smotrich’s remarks. But the Israeli chief referred to a plan for Israel to “take control of all the Gaza” and send troops to re -occupy the whole enclave.
The Israeli army has been having forced evacuation notices for the Palestinians for weeks in so-called “combat zones” to move to the south of Gaza.
Smotrich, a major of the movement of the settlers of Israel who lives himself in an illegal colony in occupied West Bank, expressed his support for the restoration of illegal establishments in the Gaza Strip which was dismantled in 2005.
He and other far -right members of the Netanyahu power coalition also expressed firm opposition to efforts to conclude an agreement to end the War of Israel against Gaza, threatening to overthrow the government if an agreement is concluded.
