Today, Monday, hundreds of Israeli right-wingers held a conference near the Gaza Strip during which they called for the restoration of settlement activity in “every inch” of the Palestinian Strip, which has been subjected to an Israeli genocidal war since October 7, 2023.
Under the title “Preparing for the re-settlement of Gaza,” the conference was held in an area that the Israeli army classified as closed military, near the Be’eri settlement, adjacent to Gaza.
The Likud Party (right) called for this conference, which is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in addition to ministers, representatives, and activists from other right-wing parties.
The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said, “The ministers who participated in the conference were Bezalel Smotrich (Finance), Yitzhak Goldknopf (Housing), Itamar Ben Gvir (National Security), Miki Zohar (Sports), Haim Katz (Welfare), and Amichai Shekli (Diaspora Affairs). ).
Yitzhak Wasserlauf (development of the Galilee and the Negev), Orit Struck (settlement), Aidit Silman (environmental protection), Mai Golan (equality and women), Shlomo Karei (communications), and Amichai Eliyahu (heritage) also participated.
The authority quoted Ben Gvir as saying at the conference, “Escape brings war, Mr. Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu). The role of courageous leadership is to make courageous decisions.”
Resettlement
In turn, Golan, who initiated the conference, called for the re-settlement of Gaza.
She said, “We will strike them where it hurts them, their land. Anyone who uses his piece of land to plan another Holocaust will receive another catastrophe from us,” she said, according to what was reported by Haaretz newspaper.
For his part, Minister of Development of the Negev and Galilee, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, said, “We have dreamed for 2,000 years of returning to our Jewish homeland.”
He continued, “I know that those who do not agree with us call this extremism, while I call it Zionism. We are true Zionists.”
Wasserlauf added, “We have a responsibility to create a safe and Jewish nation according to the land that God gave us.”
With American support, the Israeli war of annihilation on Gaza resulted in more than 142,000 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing people, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.
Since October 5, the Israeli army has been invading the northern Gaza Strip, with the aim of occupying the area and displacing Palestinian citizens from it south, under bloody bombardment and a strict siege that prevents the entry of food, water and medicine, according to the Palestinians.
Israel occupied the Gaza Strip in the June 5, 1967 war, then was forced to withdraw from it in 2005 and dismantle its settlements.
Referring to the dismantling of settlements, Yossi Dagan, a settler activist and head of the settlement council in the northern occupied West Bank, said, “We want to recover our land from them. We will correct the mistake of the disengagement (in 2005),” he claimed.
He continued, “We will correct the mistakes of the Oslo Accords (for peace with the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993 and 1995). We will never make these mistakes again. We will return to our homes,” he said.
“Gaza without Arabs”
As for settlement activist Daniela Weiss, she told reporters, “We came here for one clear purpose: to settle the entire Gaza Strip… every inch from north to south.”
She added, “We are thousands of people, ready to move to Gaza at any moment… The Arabs have lost their right to live in Gaza. You will see how the Jews will go to Gaza and the Arabs will disappear from it.”
In turn, Sima Hassoun, a representative of the “Mothers Parade” – an extremist right-wing group – said, “I know that many of you are ready for this: the invasion of (Gaza), the expulsion (of the Palestinians), and the re-settlement of (the Gaza Strip).”
She added, “I am not talking about one area of Gaza. I am not talking about northern Gaza only. I mean every inch of the land,” according to what was reported by “Haaretz.”
The gathering at this conference began yesterday, Sunday, in small groups, and then they were joined on Monday by others representing pro-settlement groups and extreme right-wing political parties.
On the other hand, dozens of Israelis protested against this gathering, carrying “yellow flags, pictures of hostages (prisoners in Gaza), and T-shirts reading October 7 must end.”
The United Nations confirms that settlement in the occupied territories is illegal, and has called on Israel in vain for decades to end it, and warns that it undermines the chances of addressing the conflict in accordance with the principle of a two-state solution.
