'Occupation is nature of war': Israeli MP wants Gaza 'cleansed' of Palestinians

A member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party says he wants to “cleanse” the besieged Gaza Strip of Palestinians before they launch another attack against the occupying entity.

In an interview with Radio 103FM, lawmaker Amit Halevi said there was no chance of ending the attacks on the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, emphasizing that “occupation is the nature of war.”

Backed by the United States and its Western allies, Israel launched a war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli regime in response to its decades-long campaign of oppression against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured some 112,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.

“We want to occupy the territory to cleanse it of the enemy - otherwise, it will kill your children and kidnap your grandchildren again,” Halevi said, adding, “For many months we have only been dealing with tactics and not with defeating Hamas.”

He also stressed that there was no possibility of ending Israel's attacks on Gaza.

“The senior command has begun to understand that it is impossible to defeat terrorism without controlling the territory and the population,” Halevi further said.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 921 Palestinians have lost their lives since Israel restarted its military aggression in Gaza on March 18, after a weeks-long ceasefire.

Israel refused to move forward with the second stage of the deal, saying that it sought to maximize pressure on Hamas to secure the release of Israeli captives, while repeatedly violating the ceasefire and killing dozens of Palestinians before its pre-dawn assault on March 18, which claimed 400 lives, including at least 183 children, as the resistance movement continued to adhere to the original three-phase ceasefire agreement.

“We want to distinguish between the status of the territory and control over it, and the status of the residents, which is definitely something that deserves to be defined. When you give control over education, culture, and religion, you get the results you get,” Halevi added, when asked if Palestinians in Gaza would receive the so-called “Israeli citizenship” after a possible takeover by the regime.

Israel shut the borders on March 2, blocking all humanitarian aid, food, and goods from entering Gaza, pushing the territory toward famine once again, as the UN World Food Programme’s director in Palestine warned that over 90 percent of Gaza's population is now food insecure due to the renewed blockade.

Israeli forces kill dozens of civilians in Gaza

Israeli forces continue to pound the Gaza Strip with air and artillery strikes, killing and injuring more Palestinian civilians across the besieged territory.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military plans to expand its ground invasion of Gaza, aiming to occupy 25 percent of the territory in the coming weeks to pressure Hamas into a new prisoner/captive exchange deal, reported Israeli journalist and former Unit 8200 member Barak Ravid on Monday, citing an unnamed senior official.

“Some Israeli officials say reoccupation is a step towards implementing the ... plan for ‘voluntary departure’ of Palestinians from Gaza and is necessary to defeat Hamas,” he added.

Hamas, however, has rejected any new deal with the regime.

“The movement emphasized it is not seeking new demands, only the implementation of what was already signed and guaranteed,” said the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, during a speech on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

Ravid noted that the reoccupation could push Palestinians out of Gaza, with forced displacements already underway, adding that if no agreement is reached, officials warn that Israel may reoccupy most of the strip and confine over two million people to a small “humanitarian zone.”

Following Hamas's acceptance of an Egyptian truce proposal, Netanyahu dismissed it, instead announcing the “final stage” of the war, stressing that Hamas must disarm, its leaders must leave the enclave, and then, the Tel Aviv regime will enforce security while facilitating a US-backed plan for “voluntary migration” of Gazans.

“Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration,” Netanyahu said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s threat to “take” the Gaza Strip and forcibly remove Palestinians from their land.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and regime’s former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.”

The occupying entity also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on the besieged strip.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk