The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the occupation army to demolish the city of Gaza “from its roots.”
In its editorial titled “Israel’s Real Estate Spoils Include Erasing Gaza from the Face of the Earth”, the paper revealed that hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed, alongside tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, as part of what it described as plans to transform Gaza’s lands into housing projects for Israeli police officers.
The report noted that this vision aligns with proposals made by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who openly called for the destruction of Gaza. It also aligns with a broader plan proposed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which views Gaza as “real estate spoils.” According to Haaretz, Smotrich even disclosed that negotiations on this matter are taking place with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The paper pointed out that Netanyahu has not voiced any objection to Smotrich’s statements, stressing the gap between the government’s public rhetoric of “destroying Hamas” and “rescuing the hostages” and the colonial economic ambitions being quietly discussed behind closed doors.
Haaretz underscored that the Gaza Strip is Palestinian land, home to more than two million people, most of whom are refugees from 1948 and their descendants. It warned that any plan to occupy the territory and carry out population cleansing constitutes “an international crime that has no place in the modern world.”
The editorial concluded by describing Netanyahu’s repeated promises to eliminate Hamas as “hollow.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the statements of extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who compared Gaza to a real estate investment project to be shared with the United States. The ministry considered his remarks a blatant admission of genocide and mass displacement schemes against the Palestinian people.
The statement stressed that these declarations reflect the moral and political bankruptcy of the Israeli government and represent a deepening of its grave violations of international law and United Nations resolutions. It further warned of the dangers of continued international silence in the face of Israel’s ongoing aggression against the Strip.
Smotrich’s remarks came during a real estate conference in Tel Aviv, where he claimed: “Rebuilding Gaza will become a profitable investment after we have already completed the demolition phase.” He added that the plan “is already on the desk of U.S. President Donald Trump,” confirming that negotiations with Washington have begun on “how to divide the shares of land.”
