Israeli Minister Announces Policy to Encourage Palestinian Migration
JERUSALEM — Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has vowed to implement policies aimed at prompting Palestinians to leave the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Speaking at a Religious Zionism Party event on Tuesday, Smotrich framed the strategy as an essential step toward eliminating what he described as the prospect of an “Arab terror state.”
According to Israeli media reports, Smotrich insisted that nullifying the Oslo Accords of the 1990s represents a crucial precondition for Israeli sovereignty. “We will finally, formally, and in practical terms nullify the cursed Oslo Accords,” he stated, while advocating for emigration from Gaza and the West Bank. Smotrich resides in a West Bank settlement, a fact critics argue underscores the ideological roots of his policy. The Israeli government has recently approved measures designed to tighten control over territories nominally under Palestinian Authority administration. These include registering West Bank land as “state property” and facilitating direct purchases by Jewish Israelis. Human rights organizations and international observers warn that these actions constitute the de facto annexation of occupied territory.
On Tuesday, the UN missions of 85 countries issued a joint statement condemning the policy, emphasizing that unilateral Israeli actions violate international law. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres similarly called the land registration measures “destabilizing” and “unlawful,” urging immediate reversal.
Settlement expansion has accelerated under Israel’s current administration. In 2025, authorities approved a record 52 settlements, with more than 500,000 Israelis currently residing in West Bank settlements and outposts. The planned expansion of the Geva Binyamin settlement marks the first growth of Jerusalem’s boundaries into the West Bank since 1967. Palestinians in the region, numbering approximately three million, continue to live under occupation, while international scrutiny intensifies.
Observers caution that continued settlement expansion and policies promoting Palestinian migration risk exacerbating tensions, destabilizing prospects for a two-state solution, and provoking renewed regional unrest.