France, Germany slam Israeli proposal to expel Gaza population

French and German foreign ministries criticized Israeli government officials’ outrageous statements on the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza to be replaced by Israelis.

“We reject the statements made by the two ministers in the strongest possible terms. They are neither sensible nor helpful,” said a German foreign ministry spokesman on Wednesday in response to the statements made by far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in recent days.

The national security and finance ministers both called for an Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip after pushing the Palestinian population out.

Ben-Gvir said on Monday that the war was an opportunity to promote the “resettlement of Gaza Strip residents,” a day after Smotrich told Israel’s Army Radio that if Israel does the right thing, there will be an exodus of Palestinians “and we will live in Gaza.”

The German ministry spokesman went on to say that there should be no expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and no territorial reduction of the Gaza Strip.

A two-state solution remains the only sustainable model for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, the spokesman said. “We are sticking to this and are also working towards it in the longer term, so to speak.”

France also condemned the provocative remarks.

“France condemns the remarks by Israeli Finance Minister Bazalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, calling for the emigration of the Gazan population as well as the re-establishment of (Jewish) colonies and occupation of the land (Gaza),” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Urging Israel to refrain from such provocative remarks, saying they only serve to fuel tensions, the statement said any forced population transfer would constitute a serious violation of international law according to the Geneva Convention and Rome Statute.

“It is not up to Israeli government to decide where Palestinians should live. The future of the Gaza Strip and its inhabitants will lie in a unified Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel,” it added.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border raid by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

In the nearly three months since, at least 22,313 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed and 57,296 others injured, according to Gaza health authorities.