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Bezalel Smotrich described Gaza as an ‘inseparable part’ of Israel, even as the Netherlands announced a ban on him and another hard line Israeli minister.
July 29, 2025, 10:18 a.m. ET
Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister of Israel, said Tuesday that the country was “closer than ever” to rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza that were evacuated 20 years ago, adding that the war there had created the opportunity to expand them even further.
Mr. Smotrich’s remarks came soon after the Netherlands announced it was barring him and another far-right government minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, from entering the country in an effort to pressure Israel into stopping the 21-month war that has devastated Gaza.
The Palestinian enclave is now in the grips of a dire hunger crisis that has brought international outrage.
Both Mr. Smotrich and Mr. Ben-Gvir have called for the war to continue. They want “voluntary” migration of Gaza’s population of two million Palestinians, a measure that international legal experts have said would amount to ethnic cleansing.
The pair have already been sanctioned by other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Britain, for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. They have also been barred from entering Slovenia.
Speaking at a conference for the anniversary of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in the summer of 2005, Mr. Smotrich described the territory as “an inseparable part of the land of Israel.”
