JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

The US has given Israel the green light to transform the Gaza Strip into a “resort town” after relocating Palestinians, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed on Tuesday.

“We will occupy Gaza and make it an inseparable part of Israel,” Smotrich told a conference held in the Knesset (parliament) under the title “The Gaza Riviera – from vision to reality.”

“We have the greenlight from the president of the United States (Donald Trump) to turn Gaza into a prosperous strip, a resort town with employment. That’s how you make peace,” he said.

The head of the far-right Religious Zionism Party said that “a proposed plan to relocate Gazans to other countries will serve as a means of facilitating the settlement of the strip.”

“We can start with the northern border and establish three communities there. We are already talking about it,” the extremist minister said.

There was no immediate US comment on Smotrich’s statements. The idea of turning Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East" was floated by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

While Smotrich did not provide further details about this plan, he reiterated his call at a separate conference in West Jerusalem for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with the full occupation of the Gaza Strip.

“I call on the prime minister to set a deadline for negotiations with Hamas, and to give it a final 24-hour ultimatum to accept the terms,” he said.

“If it doesn’t, declare the end of any possibility for a partial deal and order the army to implement the plan for full control of the Strip and humanitarian separation, leading to either Hamas’ complete surrender or total destruction.”

Indirect negotiations are currently underway in Doha between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar and Egypt with US support, to reach a deal on prisoner exchange and a ceasefire in Gaza. Two partial agreements were reached in November 2023 and this January.

Hamas has repeatedly affirmed its willingness to release all Israeli captives in one batch, in exchange for ending Israel's war and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Israel has killed more than 59,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.