On Sunday in Jerusalem, thousands of Israelis, including far-right officials and supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made calls for the restoration of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
“Return to the Gaza Strip and establish communities right away” was the demand Daniella Weiss, a leader of the settler movement, stated was the goal of Sunday’s march.
The firebrand leader reiterated remarks that Israel should “encourage voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza, a move that drew heavy criticism from the world community and the country’s closest partner, the United States.
Netanyahu said earlier in January that he would not accept a Palestinian state and that Israel’s security sovereignty over the whole region west of the Jordan River would remain unbreakable.
He did, however, state that the Israelis’ plan to resettle Gaza was “not a realistic target.”.
The protest indicates that Netanyahu’s once-fringe stance has acquired traction inside his hard-right cabinet despite his public rejection of resettlement in the Palestinian region, where Israeli forces are fighting Hamas militants.
The battle is in its fourth month. “If we don’t want another October 7, we need to… control the territory,” stated Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security, referring to the fatal Hamas strike that started the current conflict.
Speakers at the event, which was attended by numerous other ministries as well as members of Netanyahu’s party, urged the premier to realize their divisive goal.
Some argued that settlements were the only way to guarantee Israeli security and called for the deportation of Palestinians living in Gaza.
She declared, “The Arabs, not Hamas, not its supporters, and those who do not support Hamas do not want to stay in Gaza, so the Arabs will not stay in Gaza.”
In 1967, Israel invaded and conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in addition to taking control of the Gaza Strip.
In the occupied West Bank, where settlements are unlawful according to international law, around three million Palestinians and Israelis reside.
In 2005, Israel withdrew its settlers and forces from Gaza unilaterally.
Almost 2.4 million Palestinians live in the Hamas-ruled area; the great majority have been forced from their homes by Israel’s fierce air, land, and sea offensive that began on October 7.
The Gaza Health Ministry reports that at least 26,422 individuals have died as a result of the Israeli military campaign, the majority of women and children.
About 1,140 people in Israel died as a result of the October 7 strike that started it. The majority of them were civilians, according to an AFP count based on official numbers.
In the West Bank, Gaza, and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the Palestinians aspire to establish an independent state in the future.
Since taking office in late 2022, Netanyahu’s administration—the most pious and ultranationalist in Israel’s 75-year history—has made the expansion of West Bank settlements a top priority.
Netanyahu’s coalition allies are becoming more vocal in their support of Israeli settlements in Gaza, despite US President Joe Biden’s administration’s objections.
“Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land,” the State Department declared at the beginning of January.
