In Washington, the State Department has denounced as “inflammatory and irresponsible” statements by Israeli cabinet ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza, Reuters reports.

Smotrich, one of the senior figures in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, on Sunday called for Palestinian residents to leave the besieged strip, making way for Israelis who could “make the desert bloom”.

Such statements underscore fears among some in the Arab world that Israel wants to drive Palestinians out of the land where they envision a future state, repeating the mass dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948.