Smotrich lays out red lines for support of Trump’s Gaza plan: No PA or Qatari involvement, Palestinians be allowed to leave

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announces that he informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his party’s “red lines” ahead of the premier’s upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump, at which the two are expected to discuss the president’s 21-point plan to end the Gaza war.

The far-right minister gives six conditions under which his party will support the deal that aims to end the war, set up a postwar governing mechanism, and bring back the 48 hostages held by the terror group,  20 of whom are believed to be alive.

In a statement, Smotrich says that his Religious Zionism party’s red lines “include ending the war only with the full and genuine dismantling and demilitarization of Hamas and the Gaza Strip.”

Israeli forces must remain on the perimeter of the Strip, including on the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egyptian border, and have complete freedom of action throughout the coastal territory, Smotrich says.

Smotrich demands that there be no role at all for the Palestinian Authority in ruling the Strip, not even obliquely, saying that such a role would be tantamount to acknowledging a Palestinian state.

Furthermore, he demands that the agreement contain “not even a hint” of a mention of a Palestinian state. “The idea of a Palestinian state needs to be completely removed from the table.”

Smotrich also demand that there be no role at all for Qatar in the postwar running of Gaza, calling the Gulf state “two-faced hypocrites that sponsor terror.”

Finally, Smotrich demands that the border to Egypt be opened to allow Palestinians who want to leave Gaza to go to any land that will accept them.

“Gaza will no longer be a prison where people are held by force illegally and immorally just to harm the State of Israel,” he says.

Smotrich also addresses the issue of Israel annexing the West Bank, one of the key issues of his party.

Referring to the West Bank by its biblical names, Smotrich writes that he expects Netanyahu to “establish politically and practically the fact that Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the sovereign state of Israel, and to put on the table an alternative plan for managing the lives of the Arabs of Judea and Samaria themselves.”

Trump’s 21-point plan outlines a potential pathway to a future Palestinian state, something Netanyahu firmly and repeatedly rejected, stating at the UN on Friday that such a move would be “sheer madness.” He has also consistently rejected the Palestinian Authority having any role in governing postwar Gaza, while Trump sees a possibility of a reformed PA helping run the Strip.

The two leaders’ governments don’t see eye-to-eye on the idea of Israel annexing parts of the West Bank, either. Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday, “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.”