Israeli cabinet ministers call for post-war settlements in Gaza

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the security minister, draws criticism from peers after making incendiary remarks at a nationalist event

Israeli cabinet ministers have called for Gaza to be “resettled” after the war and backed the rebuilding of settlements in the heart of the territory.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, were among at least 11 members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who attended a Right-wing, nationalist conference on plans for post-conflict Gaza in Jerusalem on Sunday.
The conference room was adorned with a giant map showing prospective settlements in the place of existing Palestinian towns.
“We must encourage voluntary migration. Let them [Palestinians] leave,” Mr Ben-Gvir told an audience of thousands at the event.
Mr Smotrich, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party, said: “God willing, we will settle and we will be victorious.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has not yet commented on the conference, which brought together 11 ministers and 15 coalition MPs, including some from his own Likud party.
He has previously indicated that he opposes resettling Gaza after the war.
But the gathering was criticised by politicians from across the political spectrum, who warned it had exacerbated division in Israel and undermined its defence of genocide claims brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice.
Gadi Eisenkot, a much-respected ex-chief of staff for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and an influential member of the war cabinet, accused those who attended of having “learnt nothing” from recent events.
“Everyone who took part in that event yesterday, and especially elected officials, learnt absolutely nothing from the events of the past year, about the importance of acting in accordance with a broad national consensus and in solidarity with Israeli society,” Lt Gen Eisenkot, whose son died fighting in Gaza last year, said.
Ya’akov Margi, the welfare and social affairs minister from the ultra-religious Right-wing party Shas, also condemned the conference.
He said it was “not the time” to talk about building settlements in Gaza while the war was still raging.
Other commentators lashed out at the gathering’s carnival-like atmosphere, denouncing its scenes of joy and celebration as entirely inappropriate while the IDF fought Israel’s most devastating battles for more than 50 years.
Any resettlement in Gaza would require a major, long-term armed presence in parts of the strip, something that Israeli leaders have previously appeared to rule out.
But Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the territory, which saw the evacuation of 21 settlements inside the enclave, remains a bitter subject among settlers keen to return there.