The projected expulsion and resettlement of Gaza’s Palestinian population by Israel is “the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing,” according to Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf. Yousaf is the first UK party leader to speak out against the contentious depopulation scheme.
Yousaf told Sky News on Friday that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich should “encourage emigration” from Gaza in order to lower West Jerusalem’s Arab population from over two million to 100,000 to 200,000. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, made a similar request, saying that Israel should advocate for “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from the blockaded Gaza enclave.
“We are seeing not only a humanitarian crisis, but we’re now seeing senior members of the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government making statements that are, frankly, the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing,” Yousaf told the British broadcaster.
And that should be condemned in the strongest possible manner,” he added.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir’s proposal was rejected by the UK Foreign Office and the US State Department, which called it “inflammatory and irresponsible.” Yousaf, who heads the Scottish National Party, is the only political party leader in the UK to accuse Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” a charge more commonly leveled by Palestinian officials and Israel’s Arab neighbors.
Yousaf, whose wife’s family lives in Gaza, called on the British government to “make it clear that not only should there be an immediate ceasefire…but also they should make it clear to their trusted allies and the government of Israel that they will be held to account for any breaches of international law.”
Yousaf supported South Africa’s decision to prosecute Israel for “genocide” at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. While the Israeli government has dismissed Pretoria’s claim as “baseless” and accused South Africans of anti-Semitism, Yousaf said the court should “investigate any potential breaches of humanitarian law, any potential war crimes that have been committed, and all the way up [to] genocide.”
“I don’t know how anybody could disagree with that investigation taking place,” he told reporters.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are hardly the first prominent Israelis to advocate for Gaza’s depopulation. In October, a leaked policy document created by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence advised that tent towns be established in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to house the majority of the enclave’s 2.2 million residents, with some settling in Spain, Greece, and Canada.
Last month, Israel’s Channel 12 news network reported that Netanyahu had met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who would encourage Arab states to support “voluntary resettlement” of Gazans. Blair’s organisation issued a statement this week labelling the report a “lie” and stating that no such meeting with Netanyahu had taken place.
