Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have offered the clearest signal yet that they are considering establishing new Jewish settlements on what remains of the Gaza Strip after nearly three years of their country’s genocidal war against Palestinians.
Last Monday, Smotrich, who made his continued participation in the ruling coalition conditional on increased control over Israel’s settlement enterprise, told reporters his ministry had prepared plans for three settlements in northern Gaza, needing only Netanyahu’s green light.
The following day, Netanyahu came close to providing it. Speaking on Israel’s staunchly right-wing Channel 14, he refused to rule out the prospect of settlements in Gaza. “The question is whether you prefer to do or to talk,” he replied cryptically.
Israel’s current settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law. Clearing the way for future settlements in Gaza—and for what Netanyahu euphemistically called “voluntary migration,” widely characterized as ethnic cleansing—Israel has killed over 73,000 Palestinians.
Israel has also been accused by UN-backed experts of deliberately imposing famine and targeting children. The area north of Gaza City has been largely razed, with most Palestinian homes and institutions destroyed.
Supporters of settlements see the empty land as a buffer between Israel and Gaza. With elections due in Israel, it benefits politicians like Smotrich and Netanyahu to insinuate this plan.
“The Israeli public has been subjected to almost endless incitements to genocide since October 7,” said Neve Gordon, an Israeli professor at Queen Mary University of London. “This isn’t just rhetoric. There is a definite and consistent push from across much of Israel’s politics to resettle the Gaza Strip.”
Far-right groups like Nachala openly champion resettlement. Smotrich’s party struggles in polls, explaining his eagerness to inflate settlement prospects. Netanyahu faces corruption trials and anger over his refusal to hold an independent inquiry into the October 7 attack.
Internationally, Israel’s freedom to act stems from unwavering US support and European financial backing. Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations noted that since 2023, settlement expansion has been the largest since the Oslo Accords, with little action beyond criticism. “An expansion of Israeli settlements to Gaza could push European states to act,” he said.
Source: www.aljazeera.com