Smotrich: Israel Set to Occupy Gaza

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that his country’s military is preparing to occupy the Gaza Strip under the leadership of the newly appointed Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, in coordination with US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Smotrich made the remarks during a speech at the outset of a parliamentary bloc meeting of the Religious Zionist Party in Israel’s Knesset, according to Israeli media sources including the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (KAN), the Maariv daily and Channel 7.

Speaking about northern Israel’s security situation, he said the Lebanese group “Hezbollah is now at its lowest level in decades. It is isolated within the Lebanese government, distant from power centers, cut off from its overland supply route in Syria, deprived of its leadership, and we have eliminated most of its capabilities.”

https://twitter.com/for_jews_Israel/status/1894086249821987146

He claimed that “the Israeli army holds sovereignty in Lebanon, attacking anything that moves freely, and remains stationed at five military points along the border to protect northern towns, with no intention of stopping.”

Last Tuesday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli military withdrew from the villages and towns it occupied in southern Lebanon except for five key points along the border.

Regarding the Gaza Strip, Smotrich warned the Palestinian group Hamas, noting that its fighters “know very well that their time on the ground is limited until Israel returns to battle with all its strength, speed and lethal capacity that will defeat and destroy them.”

“When we decide that the time has come to resume the war, you will be surprised by the unity, strength and lethal precision of our Gaza occupation,” he added.

Smotrich vowed to Hamas a “painful revenge that will leave no remnants or refugees.”

He noted that the Israeli military is preparing under the leadership of Chief of Staff Zamir, who will assume his duties in the first week of March, with political backing from the Trump administration, which “is finally speaking clearly about eradicating Hamas from the face of the earth,” according to Anadolu.

Regarding the West Bank, Smotrich threatened to transform areas there into a situation similar to Jabalia in northern Gaza, where Israel committed extermination and ethnic cleansing.

He boasted of forcibly removing tens of thousands of Palestinian residents from refugee camps in the West Bank to enable his army to destroy those sites.

He said the Israeli military is operating tanks and armored vehicles in the occupied West Bank to eliminate those he claims are “terrorists.”

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it had transferred a battalion of tanks to Jenin in the northern West Bank for the first time in more than two decades.

The same day, the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that “for the first time since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, Israeli tanks have moved into the Jenin area as part of preparations to expand the operation in the northern West Bank.”

A Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal took effect last month, halting Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed nearly 48,350 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

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Roadmap: Gaza Needs $53 Billion to be Rebuilt

Reconstruction and recovery needs in Gaza are estimated to require $53 billion, according to the Gaza & West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) released Tuesday. The report analyzes damages and losses as well as recovery and reconstruction needs across almost all sectors of the Palestinian economy based on data from October 2023-October 2024.

  • Rapid Damage and Needs Assessments follow a globally recognized methodology that has been applied in multiple contexts to inform recovery and reconstruction planning.
  • With on-ground access restrictions and the rapid pace at which the situation is evolving in Gaza, the IRDNA provides an interim estimate of the impacts and needs.
  • Damages to physical structures alone are estimated at about $30 billion.
    • Housing was by far the hardest hit sector, accounting for 53% of total damages, followed by commerce and industry at 20%.
    • Extensive damage to lifeline infrastructure such as health, water and transport is estimated at over 15% of the total damages.
  • Economic losses from reduced productivity, foregone revenues, and operating costs are estimated at $19 billion, with health, education and commerce bearing the biggest toll.
  • Some sectors face higher recovery needs than the value of the physical destruction sustained, such as the funding needed for the management of the between 41 to 47 million tons of rubble and debris.

Almost all sectors in Gaza have experienced a total halt in economic production. Prices in Gaza have soared over 300% in one year, with food prices alone up by 450%. Gaza’s economy is projected to have contracted by 83% in 2024, dropping its overall contribution to the economy to 3%, despite being home to 40% of the population in the Palestinian territories. The West Bank’s economy is also struggling and is projected to have shrunk by 16% in 2024.

The report, jointly produced by the World Bank Group, the United Nations and the European Union, puts forward a roadmap for sequencing recovery efforts along with their associated costs in the short and medium term. It underscores the importance of a closely coordinated multisectoral response involving all stakeholders. The report further notes that the speed, scale and scope of recovery and reconstruction will be shaped by factors such as governance arrangements, entry to and mobility within the Gaza Strip for people and goods, law and order, and safety and security.

Reliefweb

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Don’t be Distracted by Trump’s Bizarre Plan, Focus…

By James J. Zogby

My initial response to President Donald Trump’s proposals for Gaza was to dismiss them as bizarre, detached from reality, dangerously provocative, illegal, and callously insensitive to Palestinian humanity.

His proposals are, in fact, all of the above. But because we know that this president is not a stupid man, it would be wise to assume that there may be a “method to his madness.” Not unlike Trump’s “shock and awe” Executive Order blitz that had his opponents and the media scrambling to understand his intentions, I believe that the same logic may be at work with his Gaza remarks. The logic has two essential components. The first is to disorient and demoralize his opponents. The second is to distract them—like a carnival hustler’s shell game—so we take our eyes off the real issues in front of us and focus instead on the illusion being created.

With this in mind, I do not believe for a minute that Trump intends to send US troops to take over Gaza to forcibly expel 1.5 million Palestinians. Nor will he be able to coerce Jordan and Egypt to receive and permanently resettle these expelled Palestinians, nor entice Saudi Arabia to pay to build Palestinians a “big new beautiful place.”

All these ideas are so far-fetched and dangerous that it is inconceivable that this president, who says he wants to keep America out of war and bring peace to the Middle East, will try to do any or all of them.

I may be attacked by some for trying to give President Trump the benefit of the doubt. To be clear, that is precisely what I am not doing. He may want to turn the page with the distractions of a bizarre plan for Gaza. But instead of taking the bait, we should continue to focus on what’s real. What I am saying is that instead of spending endless hours attempting to parse out his words or critique his plan or prepare for its implementation (which is exactly what he wants us to do), we should avoid the distraction and focus on the urgency of matters in front of us. The fragile ceasefire in Gaza must be maintained and the parties must move into its second and third phases. That means continuing to press for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and plans to begin reconstruction. It means directing our attention and action to stopping Israel’s escalation of oppressive violence on the West Bank. And it means maintaining focus on the need to hold Israel and the US culpable for the war crimes committed during the past 15 months.

Neither President Trump nor Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want us to act on any of these pressing matters. They want to further demoralise Palestinians while causing turmoil in Arab countries. They want the clock to run down on Phase One of the ceasefire plan. This would allow Netanyahu to resume his war to achieve what he calls “total victory” in Gaza. It would also ensure that he maintains his governing coalition and remains in office. 

In other words, instead of addressing real problems crying for our attention, President Trump wants us to fall for his game by debating an illusory distraction while the Israelis pursue their deadly game right under our noses.  

James J. Zogby is a columnist in The Jordan Times

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King Abdullah: No to Displacement

Jordan’s King Abdullah II reiterated on Monday his firm opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.

His remarks came during a meeting with military retirees at the Royal Hashemite Court, according to a statement.

“For 25 years, I have been saying no to displacement, no to resettlement, no to the alternative homeland,” the court quoted the monarch as saying, denouncing “those who question these firm positions.”

He also reiterated “the importance of de-escalation in the West Bank,” highlighting that “achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the only way to guarantee stability in the region,” according to Anadolu.

The Jordanian monarch underscored that “preserving Jordan’s interest and stability and protecting Jordan and Jordanians are above all considerations,” stressing the importance of rebuilding Gaza “without displacing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Trump hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House last week, renewing his insistence that Gazans be relocated and the enclave controlled by the US to be redeveloped into a tourist area.

The ceasefire deal has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, pausing Israel’s genocidal war that has killed nearly 48,300 Palestinians and left the enclave in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

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Israel to Build 1000 Settlement Units Near Bethlehem

The Israeli government issued a tender to build nearly 1,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, an anti-settlement group said on Monday.

The Peace Now group, an Israeli watchdog that monitors settlement building in the West Bank, said 974 additional settler homes will be built in Efrat settlement south of Bethlehem city.

It warned that the construction of an entire neighborhood in the Efrat settlement “blocks the development of the Bethlehem metropolis to the south, and if Israel seeks to annex it to Israel, it will cut off the entire southern West Bank,” according to Anadolu.

The Israeli organization accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of harming Israel’s interests and undermining the two-state solution through imposing realities on the ground.

“While the people of Israel sets their sights on the release of the hostages and an end to the war, the Netanyahu government is operating ‘on steroids’ to establish facts on the ground that will destroy the chance for peace and compromise,” it said.

Nineteen Israeli captives and five Thai workers have been released in exchange for 1,135 Palestinian prisoners under a Gaza ceasefire agreement that took effect on Jan. 19.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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