He explained that while there are many reasons for the delay, the return of the hostages being one of the primary ones, the focus now must be on the next steps. Smotrich outlined six clear conditions: “There will be no reconstruction without demilitarization. This is mandated by President Trump’s plan, and we must not deviate from it by even an inch. There is no such thing as partial demilitarization, fictitious demilitarization, or watered-down demilitarization. Hamas cannot exist in Gaza at the end of this war. There will be no involvement of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza - neither directly nor indirectly.”
He continued, “There will be no entry of multinational forces into our part of Gaza. International forces must dismantle Hamas and demilitarize Gaza, and they must do so in the red zone of the Strip. The State of Israel will not pay in any way for Gaza’s reconstruction. If anything, the Gazans should bear the enormous costs of the war they forced upon us in the October 7 massacre. There must be a clear and short deadline for attempts to dismantle Hamas the easy way, after which Israel will have full freedom to act on its own.”
Smotrich emphasized that the situation in Judea and Samaria should also be addressed during the meeting with Trump. “We are carrying out a revolution on the ground in Judea and Samaria, but in terms of security and diplomacy, we are still far from internalizing and implementing the lessons of October 7. Oslo was a mistake, the establishment of the Palestinian Authority was a mistake, and the PA is a terrorist entity that must be eradicated.” (Read More)
