NEGEV, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Monday the completion of preparations to establish three Jewish settlements in the northern region of the Gaza Strip, pending approval from premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The settlement administration, under my direction at the defense ministry, has completed its planning work and we are ready to establish three settlements immediately once we receive the green light from the prime minister,” Smotrich declared in a video from the settlement of Sderot posted on his X account.
In the footage, standing alongside the Sderot mayor, Smotrich added that Israel must complete “the conquest of the remaining territory [in Gaza], defeat Hamas, and establish a belt of Jewish settlements.”
Smotrich has pushed hard to expand Jewish settlements and has a history of publicly calling on Netanyahu to annex territories in the West Bank and Gaza.
Despite Smotrich’s announcement, a return to settlement in Gaza is strongly opposed by the US and remains highly unlikely in the foreseeable future, according to the Times of Israel website.
