FORMER UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is being touted by sections of the Israeli genocide cabinet as an agent to lead the ‘relocation’ of Palestinians out of Gaza in a Second Nakba.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) foreign ministry issued a statement yesterday saying that it hopes that ‘Tony Blair is not involved in this crime that falls under the Israeli government plan to deepen genocide and forced displacement among Palestinians.’
On Sunday, an Israeli news channel reported that Blair was going to be the ‘point person’ to find European countries that would take in Palestinian refugees from Gaza.
Blair was reportedly in Israel last week for undisclosed meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in which it was proposed that he could take a ‘mediator position’ in post-war Gaza which will include ‘examining’ the acceptance of Palestinian refugees by Western nations.
In the meeting, the idea of the former British prime minister serving as a mediator was apparently floated, with his work revolving around the issue of displaced Palestinians, serving as a liaison communicating Israel’s security needs to the Western world.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir published a statement on Sunday, welcoming the reports of Blair ‘heading a task force that will promote the emigration of Gaza residents to other countries around the world.
‘This is a morally just step to take, first and foremost for Gaza border residents, and for all of Israel,’ the Zionist minister said.
On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that 70% of Gaza’s homes have been damaged or destroyed in Israeli air strikes.
So far, Israeli attacks have killed at least 21,800 people, including 9,100 children, the government media office in the Gaza Strip reported on Sunday.
Civilians and health officials in Gaza have repeatedly stated that they believe the number of those killed is far higher than that being published by the Ministry of Health, due to people being trapped under the rubble and a lack of access to healthcare facilities and hospitals.
For his part, Netanyahu recently said he planned to continue the deadly offensive in Gaza for ‘many more months’.
‘The war is at its height. We are fighting on all of the fronts. Achieving victory will require time. As the (army) chief of staff has said, the war will continue,’ he said in a televised speech on Sunday, adding that Israel should take over Gaza’s border with Egypt and close any access points.
Meanwhile, far right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich told Israel’s Army Radio on Saturday that there will be an exodus of Palestinians and instead Israelis ‘will live in the Gaza Strip’.
‘We will not allow a situation in which two million people live there. If there are 100,000 to 200,000 Arabs living in Gaza, the discussion about the day after will be completely different,’ he added.
‘I’m for completely changing the reality in Gaza, having a conversation about settlements in the Gaza Strip… We’ll need to rule there for a long time… If we want to be there militarily, we need to be there in a civilian fashion,’ he said.
SHAPPS THREATENS WAR ON YEMEN!
TORY Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has threatened to carry out an act of war against Yemen.
Writing in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, Shapps said: ‘We are willing to take direct action, and we won’t hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
‘The Houthis should be under no misunderstanding: we are committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks,’ he said.
Earlier on Sunday, Tory Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he told Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a call that Iran should help stop the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Iranian state media has confirmed that Tehran has deployed a warship to the Red Sea as the area rapidly militarises.
The IRIS Alborz, part of the 94th Naval Fleet of the Iranian army, travelled through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait near Yemen to arrive at the Red Sea.
The warship was originally built half a century ago, before the Iranian Revolution of 1979, but was overhauled and had new combat systems installed four years ago to rejoin the naval force of the army, which is separate from the naval force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp.
The news comes as state media reported Iran’s security chief, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, held a meeting with top Houthi negotiator Mohammad Abdulsalam.
It is unclear where or when the meeting took place, but Iranian media quoted Ahmadian as saying Tehran praised the Houthis for supporting Palestinians and standing up to Israel.
The New York Times newspaper reported yesterday that US President Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to directly strike the Houthi armed group in Yemen amid their continued Red Sea attacks.
It said US military officials have prepared plans to strike missile and drone bases in Yemen, but the Biden administration is hesitant to use them, as it remains concerned the strikes could ‘inadvertently benefit Iran’, while also jeopardising a delicate truce between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Retired Fifth Fleet commander Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan warned in the report that if the US does not respond to the Houthi threat it would invite more attacks, as enemy groups start believing that ‘attacking a US ship carries a low risk of retaliation’.