Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the right-wing Religious Zionism party, said he would not transfer any funds to the Palestinian Authority “not even a shekel” and expressed a desire to encourage “voluntary emigration” from the Gaza Strip. He made this comment to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Israel.
Smotrich wrote on his page on social network X (formerly Twitter): “Blinken, welcome to Israel. “We greatly appreciate the US support for Israel, but we will always act in Israel’s interests when it comes to our presence in our country.”
The minister also expressed his intention to encourage “voluntary migration” of refugees from Gaza, as was done for refugees from Syria and Ukraine.
In response to this statement, Secretary of State Blinken said at a press conference in Tel Aviv that Israel should stop withholding tax revenues for the Palestinian budget. He also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had assured him that Israel had no intention of forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza.
The situation in the Middle East has worsened since thousands of Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7. More than two hundred hostages were captured.
On this day, Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel and announced the start of Operation Al Aqsa Flood. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country was at war.
Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah announced its support for Hamas. Rocket attacks began on Israel and Lebanon from both sides. On the afternoon of October 19, the Israeli army announced that fire was opened from Lebanese territory to the country’s border areas. According to the IDF, numerous anti-tank missiles were fired at Kibbutz Manara.
The existence of the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah is believed to exist will be open to transportation and interaction According to Bloomberg, based on experts, Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system will be suppressed in the event of a conflict in the Middle East.
Former Israeli Chief of Staff saidHow long will the conflict in Gaza last?