UPDATE - Hardline Israeli minister backs 'voluntary immigration' of Palestinians in Gaza as 'humanitarian solution'

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY ISRAELI SECURITY MINISTER

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday suggested that "voluntary immigration" of Palestinians in Gaza is a "right humanitarian solution" to end the ongoing conflict.

In a statement on X, Smotrich backed an initiative by hardline Israeli lawmakers, who called for expelling residents of Gaza to countries worldwide as a solution to the conflict between what he said was "Arabs and Jews."

"This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the entire region," the far-right minister added.

Also, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli minister for national security, voiced his support for the proposal of taking Palestinians out of Gaza under a "voluntary immigration" approach.

"At the moment of truth, everyone talks about Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength Party)," Ben-Gvir wrote on X, referring to the radical ideas of his party against Palestinians.

On Monday, Israeli lawmakers Danny Danon and Ram Ben Barak suggested in a piece to the Wall Street Journal that moving Palestinians from Gaza to nations that accept them is a solution that ends "the suffering and pain of Jews and Arabs alike."

This was not the first controversial reaction by Israel towards its ongoing war on Gaza. Last week, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, said that dropping a "nuclear bomb" on the Gaza Strip was "an option."