Smotrich renews calls to Israeli PM to greenlight three north Gaza settlements

Israel’s extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has renewed his call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the establishment of three settlements in northern Gaza, as he pushes to resettle Jewish Israelis in the war-torn enclave.

Smotrich, himself a settler living in the occupied West Bank, said on Saturday that Israel’s Defence Ministry’s Settlement Administration was ready to begin implementation "as soon as the green light is given."

Smotrich made the remarks in a post on X to coincide with the 21st anniversary of Israel's 2005 "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip, under which Israel unilaterally withdrew from the enclave, dismantling all 21 settlements there as well as four settlements in the occupied northern West Bank.

Those four were Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur. Smotrich said settlers have since returned to the latter two, while efforts were underway to re-establish Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank.

The territory has recently seen a wave of pogroms by settlers targeting Palestinian civilians, homes and mosques.

Smotrich added that Israeli's far-right government did not intend to stop at rebuilding the four settlements evacuated in 2005, but instead planned to establish "a long chain of new settlements" across the northern West Bank to "strengthen and entrench" the settlement enterprise.

He added however that these plans were "not guaranteed", citing Israel's general election, due in three months. He added that voters would face a choice between "a right-wing government that continues expanding settlements" and what he described as "a dangerous left-wing government" that would dismantle settlements and outposts and pursue a political agreement with the Palestinians.

Smotrich first called for the establishment of three settlements in northern Gaza on 29 June following a meeting with the mayor of the southern Israeli town of Sderot, close to the enclave.

 Smotrich, like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other extremist ministers in Netanyahu’s government, have been vocal supporters of resettling Gaza, much of which lies in ruins following nearly three years of Israel’s genocidal campaign.

Despite violence significantly easing since the October 2025 ceasefire deal, Israeli attacks have continued to kill Palestinians, with eight people dying as a result of Israeli strikes on Saturday.

More than 73,000 people have been killed since the war began in October 2023, most of them civilians.