White House blasts Israeli confab on Gaza resettlement attended by PM’s allies

The White House slams yesterday’s conference in Jerusalem encouraging reestablishing settlements in the Gaza Strip, which was attended by nearly one-third of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

A statement issued by a National Security Council spokesperson says the US is “troubled” by the gathering, particularly the host of controversial statements by participants calling for the mass displacement of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

“We have also been clear, consistent, and unequivocal against the forced relocation of Palestinians outside of Gaza,” the White House statement says. “This rhetoric is incendiary and irresponsible, and we take the prime minister at his word when he says that Israel does not intend to reoccupy Gaza,” the statement adds.

Netanyahu said Saturday that the agenda advanced at the conference does not represent his government’s policy, but the decision by 12 ministers and 15 coalition lawmakers to attend the gathering called into question Israel’s motives in urging nearly two million Palestinians to evacuate from their homes.

While the IDF says the directive was issued in order to ensure that civilians would not be caught in the crossfire, calls by ministers for Palestinians to be encouraged to emigrate from Gaza and for settlements to be re-established there have painted the evacuations in a different light around the world.