The Palestinian presidency said on Monday that it rejects any suspicious attempts to assign former British Prime Minister Tony Blair or others to work to displace citizens from the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, the Israeli Ministers of National Security and Finance, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, announced their support for the voluntary displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Presidency explained – in a statement carried by the official Palestinian News Agency, “Wafa” – that this matter is a condemnable and unacceptable act.
Yesterday, Sunday, Hebrew Channel 12 reported that Israel intends to appoint Tony Blair as a mediator between it and Western countries to persuade them to receive Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip after the end of the war.
The channel explained that Blair was on a secret visit to Israel last week, where he held unannounced meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister in the War Council, Benny Gantz, to discuss the matter.
For its part, the Palestinian presidency said, “We will demand that the British government not allow this tampering with the fate and future of the Palestinian people.”
She continued, “We will call on the Secretary-General of the United Nations (Antonio Guterres) to do everything possible, in order not to allow such actions that violate international law and international legitimacy.”
She explained that Blair’s participation in displacing Palestinians from Gaza represents an intervention and action that only serves Israel’s interests, harms the Palestinian people and their rights, and pushes them to abandon their land.
She added, “It seems that Tony Blair is completing the Balfour Declaration issued by the British government with American participation (in 1917), which established the tragedy of the Palestinian people and ignited dozens of wars in the region.”
The presidency said it considered Blair an undesirable person in the Palestinian territories.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli authorities.
On the other hand, a source close to Blair denied – to the Jerusalem Post – what Channel 12 reported.
The source said that the allegations related to Blair’s connection to the displacement of Palestinians are incorrect. He continued: “Such a discussion has never occurred, and Blair will not discuss such a proposal.”
Smotrich and Ben Gvir: We support voluntary displacement
On the other hand, the Israeli Ministers of National Security and Finance, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, announced on Monday their support for the voluntary displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
The leader of the right-wing Jewish Power Party, Itamar Ben Gvir, said in a tweet on the
He added, “We have partners around the world that we can help (accommodate immigrants),” without mentioning the names of these countries.
Ben Gvir continued, “Encouraging the migration of Gazans will allow us to return the residents of the border of the Gaza Strip and the residents of the Gush Katif settlement to their homeland.”
Israel withdrew its forces and expelled its settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005, including the Gush Katif settlement that existed in Gaza.
Israeli Army Radio quoted Smotrich as saying: “The correct solution for the Gaza Strip is to encourage voluntary migration to countries that agree to receive refugees.”
The leader of the right-wing Religious Zionism Party added, “Israel will be governed permanently, to ensure security through the permanent presence of army forces on the ground, and the establishment of Jewish settlements.”
In recent weeks, Israeli calls have emerged to voluntarily displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Last November, Representative Danny Danon from Netanyahu’s Likud Party proposed the issue of voluntary immigration for residents of the Gaza Strip.