Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu urged that Israel “must find ways for Gazans that are more painful than death” to defeat them and break their morale, as the US did with Japan.
Eliyahu expressed, in statements to Israeli radio station 103 FM, that Israel must decide the battle by breaking the morale of the Palestinians in Gaza and causing them pain involving their land, destroying homes, breaking their national dream and voluntary immigration. When the presenter interrupted him, saying this was not possible, Eliyahu replied that it was, similar to what happened during the Arab Spring when large numbers of the region’s population immigrated to Germany.
According to the Israeli minister’s statements, the residents of Gaza should be encouraged to immigrate to other countries as part of revenge measures against them after the events of Operation Al-Aqsa flood.
Eliyahu widely criticised Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for the plan he developed for the post-war period, whereby civil affairs in the Gaza Strip would be handled by Palestinian parties not hostile to Israel. Eliyahu argued that no group fit this description.
In November, the Israeli minister called for dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza, wiping it off the face of the earth.
Eliyahu belongs to the far-right extremist Otzma Yehudit party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. This party supports building settlements, regaining control of the Gaza Strip and extremist ideas.
Eliyahu’s new statement comes amid Israeli calls to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip and resettle them in other countries.