10/22/2024–|Last updated: 10/22/202409:07 AM (Mecca time)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that “Gaza is part of the Land of Israel, and that there will be no security without settlement” in the Strip.
Smotrich added yesterday evening, Monday – in statements before his participation in a conference on settlements organized around the Gaza Strip – that “the main lesson of the last year is that wherever there is settlement there is security, and wherever there are civilians there is also a military presence, and there is no debate that the army will control the Gaza Strip for a long time.” To remove the inherent danger and provide security for the citizens of Israel.”
He added, “Whoever has eyes realizes that without a civilian settlement presence the army cannot be maintained for a long time, so there must be a Jewish presence in Gaza and the strong pioneer settlement should be revived again.”
Smotrich stressed that this year, “the great mistake that was expelled from the Gush Katif settlements in Gaza will be corrected,” as he put it.
It is noteworthy that yesterday, Monday, hundreds of right-wing Israelis held a conference near the Gaza Strip, during which they called for the restoration of settlement activity in “every inch” of the Gaza 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 the Gaza Strip.
The Likud Party (right), led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for this conference, 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). ).
Ministers Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Development of the Galilee and Negev), Orit Struck (Settlements), Idit Silman (Environmental Protection), Mai Golan (Equality and Women), Shlomo Karei (Communications), and Amichai Eliyahu (Heritage) also participated in it.