Far-Right Calls for Gaza Resettlement Ignite Controversy in Israel
Some Israelis are pushing to resettle Gaza after Hamas’ attack, citing security. Netanyahu opposes the plan, while critics warn of risks and international backlash. The debate deepens Israel's divisions
Hamas’ offensive on Gaza and Israel’s retaliation has sparked the idea of resettling the Gaza Strip with Jewish residents. The idea, increasingly prevalent amongst members of the right wing, has so far been dismissed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas’ attack resulted in the killing of approximately 1,200 Israelis on October 7. Thousands of others were wounded, and 250 people were taken hostage as hundreds of terrorists stormed the border in an attack that stunned Israel almost twenty years after it evacuated the Gaza Strip.
In a recent tour of the Gaza border, members of the government and supporters of the idea made their intentions clear. The 21 Israeli settlements evacuated in 2005 should be resurrected in response to Hamas’ atrocities.
“Jewish settlement here is the answer to the terrible massacre and the answer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague who, instead of caring (of the) hostages, chose to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and the minister of defense,” the leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party and housing minister Yitzhak Goldknopf tweeted after the tour.
“It is important for security—we need to see that no other entity will hold that piece of land without it turning Jihadist,” Yishai Fleischer, spokesperson for the Jewish community of Hebron in the West Bank, told The Media Line. “Settlements bring the army in a strong way, and the permanency will subdue Jihadism.”
Fleischer and other settlers see Gaza as part of historical and biblical Israel, saying without it, “Israel is not whole.”
Settlements in the West Bank have flourished under the current Netanyahu government, pinning hopes that such a policy will be duplicated in Gaza.
In an interview given to the public broadcaster Kan on Monday, ultra-right-wing minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “The right thing to do is to conquer Gaza and establish a civilian presence there.”
The visit by the minister and other right-wing politicians wasn’t the only event tied to the aspirations of Israel’s ultra-nationalist bloc. Conventions and events have been organized to promote the idea.
“I take these intentions very seriously,” Hagit Ofran, from the Peace Now settlement watchdog organization, told The Media Line. “It is my assessment they might even act on their intentions before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.”
Ofran rules out the claim that Israeli presence will boost security and serve as a deterrent.
It only takes more resources from the army who will need to guard settlers rather than guarding Israel’s borders.
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“It only takes more resources from the army who will need to guard settlers rather than guarding Israel’s borders,” she said.
In an attempt to reassure the international community that this is not Israel’s intention, Netanyahu has shot down the notions of resettlement since they surfaced in the immediate aftermath of the war.
Netanyahu is being genuine in saying that he does not want communities there, but that doesn’t mean that he is right. He also allowed the military build-up in Gaza and did not react to it.
“Netanyahu is being genuine in saying that he does not want communities there, but that doesn’t mean that he is right,” said Fleischer, reminding that the premier voted in favor of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, a fact Netanyahu prefers to forget. “He also allowed the military build-up in Gaza and did not react to it.”
We will push for Jewish presence in Gaza as has been for many times in history in the course of thousands of years.
“He may be prime minister, but he is not the only opinion and not the only controller of this issue in the long term,” Fleischer added. “We will push for Jewish presence in Gaza as has been for many times in history in the course of thousands of years.”
In the eyes of the international community, Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories are viewed as illegal. The US traditionally shared this policy, with the exception of Trump’s first term, in which the White House denied the illegality of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Banking on this precedent, the current far-right government may think it has the approval to resettle the Gaza Strip.
“They will likely begin with as many families as possible and attach themselves to an existing army post or base, using existing water and electricity infrastructure,” Ofran added.
This practice has become customary in the West Bank, where, according to Peace Now, there are over 200 such outposts, some of which the government has legalized over the years. Ofran is concerned this practice may spill over into the West Bank.
“It’s quite simple, annex or have sovereignty over all of Gaza and have Jewish communities there alongside Arab communities that are not Jihadists,” said Fleischer. “It will probably first be a military presence and slowly settlements as they existed before 2005 with an eye towards total normalization and sovereignty.”
According to Fleischer, “non-Jihadist” residents will be granted residency status.
Reeling from the horrors of Hamas’ assault, Israel launched a massive offensive in Gaza, with its government vowing to crush Hamas, never allowing it to be able to launch a similar attack in the future. The war has been costly to Palestinians in Gaza. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, over 43,300 Palestinians have been killed since and over 100000 wounded. United Nations figures show almost two million residents of Gaza have been internally displaced, and the Israeli military has leveled entire neighborhoods.
In the northern Gaza Strip, where there has been intense and continuous fighting, the presence of Palestinian civilians presence has significantly dwindled. This could be where settlers begin their endeavor, should they be allowed to do so by Israeli officials.
The Gaza Strip was captured from Egyptian military rule by Israel in the 1967 war. Thousands of Israelis then settled in the territory, living alongside over 2 million Palestinians. The late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to unilaterally evacuate the territory in 2005, leaving it to the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Fatah party. Soon after, the internal Palestinian rivalry materialized in a historical split that has divided Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas had won the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 with a 44% plurality of votes and 56% of the seats, and a power-sharing deal with Fatah was unattainable. The rivalry between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah party peaked in 2007 when Hamas violently took over Gaza from the hands of Fatah. The coup also positioned Hamas, which denies Israel’s right to exist, on Israel’s border. For years, it fired rockets toward Israel, and the two sides fought several wars until the latest one.
A poll published Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute showed that a little over half of Israeli Jews are against the resettlement of Gaza.
While Israel’s return to Gaza in the form of settlements may seem unrealistic to some, it is clearer the wish of elements in the right wing and of true concern to those in Israel who oppose the government.
“The preparations have been made, the will exists, and there is no one stopping them,” said Ofran.
Earlier this week, National Security Minister and far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir said he continues to work to “encourage” Palestinian “voluntary” immigration from Gaza, adding Netanyahu showed more ‘openness’ to the idea.
Last month, Israeli media reported that right-wing members of parliament will bring to a vote a law canceling the 2005 disengagement to rid of any legal hurdles in the path to resettling Gaza.
The Netanyahu government holds a solid majority in parliament and faces a fragmented opposition that finds it difficult to act uniformly. With the Trump administration having a history of agreeing to Israeli settlement policy, there will be no real opposition from the international community despite declarations that will likely be heard.
