Israeli minister calls for ‘utter destruction’ of Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called Tuesday for the “utter destruction” of the cities of Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.

“We read: I pursue my enemies and overtake them, I do not turn back until they are wiped out,” Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionism Party, said in a circulated video on social media, using phrases from the Torah.

“No half jobs; Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Younis - utter destruction,” he added.

His call comes amid reports of a possible cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, where more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured in a brutal Israeli offensive since last October.

“It's absurd, we are negotiating with the ones that should not have existed for a long time,” Smotrich said.

The far-right minister also called for striking the Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

"Then, with the will of God, to eliminate the evils of Hezbollah in the north, with the will of God, and to deliver a real message that whoever perpetrates against the Jewish people, like these evil ones have perpetrated against us, will be destroyed, they will be annihilated, and it will echo for decades and decades onwards,” he said.

He called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to bow to pressure to end the Gaza war.

“There are arrest warrants in The Hague (ICJ), there is American pressure, there is fear of sanctions, there are protests, and there are all sorts of calculations, and you must say to your Prime Minister: May your situation not be worse than theirs.”

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala