On 29 April 2024 Smotrich said, "There are no half measures ... Rafah, Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat – total annihiliation. 'Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.' There is no place for them under heaven." The Israeli newspaper Haaretz described his comments as a call to genocide.
Smotrich may well get his wish for total annihiliation when this humanitarian city near Rafah is full of sitting ducks. All the better to wipe them out. Unless, of course, his call for total annihiliation can be interpreted in a positive way.