'Necessary To Occupy Gaza Strip', Says Israeli Finance Minister

Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said Israel should "occupy" Gaza.

Speaking on Monday at a conference organized by the Yesha council, a settler lobbying group, he said “it is possible and necessary to occupy the Gaza Strip. We should not be afraid of this word."

He spoke about Israel taking civil responsibility and added that there would be a "voluntary emigration from Gaza."

The war in Gaza started Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250.

Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are dead, and Hamas militants have repeatedly regrouped after Israeli operations, carrying out hit-and-run attacks from tunnels and bombed-out buildings.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 44,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many of the dead were fighters.