Israel’s defense and finance ministers have announced plans to establish three illegal settlements in Gaza and allocate over $400 million (£300 million) to expand construction in the occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, Israel’s military commander for the region praised violent outposts as his “security partners.”
Palestinians brace as Israeli settler figures in coalition seek to cement West Bank gains before election
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With national elections scheduled for October 27, Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition is racing to expand control over occupied Palestinian land and push out Palestinians before its mandate ends.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said he intended to set up three “Nahal” outposts in northern Gaza—a type of military community that has historically paved the way for Israeli civilian settlements.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced 1.3 billion shekels (£318 million) in funding for dozens of new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to Israeli media, the cabinet approved the money last month but kept the decision secret due to expected opposition from the US.
Major General Avi Bluth, who commands Israeli forces in the West Bank, told residents of extremist outposts that he “appreciates their work” and considered them security partners with the military. Bluth, who grew up in a West Bank settlement himself, spoke on Wednesday at a meeting of the so-called Farms Association—a group that represents settlements illegal even under Israeli law.
These outposts play a key role in campaigns of terror that have driven Palestinians from their homes and lands across the occupied West Bank.
Map of Palestinian communities and Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Dozens of Israel’s political and military elite, including two former prime ministers and former heads of all its security services, have threatened legal action against their government over its support for Jewish terrorism in the West Bank.
“Settler violence is state violence,” the UN human rights office for Palestine said in a new report published this week. It detailed how Israel uses settlers to lead annexation efforts, while systematic impunity for perpetrators allows violence to grow unchecked.
Hagit Ofran, from the Israeli activist group Peace Now, said bulldozers were working on at least seven settlements that would be populated before election day. “The government is on a reckless pre-election sprint to raid the public purse in order to create facts on the ground,” Ofran said.
Katz outlined his settlement plans for Gaza during a visit to Israeli-controlled parts of the territory. He has also pushed for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza through large-scale migration of Palestinians. “I intend to establish three Nahal outposts, which is also a military entity, in those places that were [Israeli settlements] in northern Gaza,” he told Channel 14 TV.
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Israeli bulldozers prepare land for the construction of the new settlement of Dotan Valley near the West Bank city of Jenin. Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA
Nahal outposts were not intended for long-term military use, said Dror Etkes, founder of the advocacy group Kerem Navot, which monitors Israel’s land grab in the occupied West Bank. “The military is only the first phase, aimed at preparing the land for future settlement,” he said. “All together, dozens of Israeli settlements in the West Bank were established this way.”
Nahal settlements were first set up in border regions in the 1950s, including around the Gaza Strip, Etkes said. From 1967, the same system was used in the occupied West Bank, initially along the Jordan Valley and then spreading to other areas.
Smotrich also said last month that plans for three settlements in Gaza were complete and work could begin as soon as Netanyahu gave the green light. The prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment on Katz’s plans.
Katz also told Channel 14 that he “felt good” seeing the wasteland of rubble that had replaced Palestinian homes and communities in most of Israel.Israeli-occupied Gaza.
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Israeli settlers worked on Friday to build a new outpost near the Palestinian village of Azmut in the occupied West Bank.
Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images
Israel now controls 65% of Gaza, Israel’s deputy chief of staff, Maj Gen Tamir Yadai, told Katz in an on-camera briefing. That’s far more than the 53% agreed under the ceasefire brokered last year by US President Donald Trump.
About 2 million Palestinians who survived Israel’s war of annihilation are crowded into the remaining third of Gaza.
“I don’t know how to describe this, other than victory, when you control 65% of the territory, when you have killed over 70,000 terrorists here,” Yadai said.
His figures appeared to label 21,000 Palestinian children killed by Israeli attacks as “terrorists,” including more than 1,000 babies who never reached their first birthday.
Israel’s military has acknowledged that a database of Gaza’s war dead compiled by Palestinian health authorities is broadly accurate. It lists more than 73,000 people by name, along with their Israeli-issued ID numbers.
More than 21,000 were children; more than 10,000 were women under 60, and more than 5,000 were elderly. When asked whether Yadai’s data counted women, children, and elderly people as “terrorists,” the Israeli military declined to comment directly.
A spokesperson said the military was still assessing casualty numbers in Gaza, and despite Yadai’s comments to Katz, had not briefed civilian officials on this issue.
“The IDF is currently conducting a staff assessment regarding the breakdown and categorization of its casualties. The process has not yet been completed and has not been presented to the political echelon,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson declined to comment on Bluth’s support for settler militants and said decisions on settlements were a political matter.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs regarding the announcement of new settlement plans in Gaza and the West Bank by Israeli ministers
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What exactly are settlements in this context
Settlements are residential communities built by Israeli citizens on land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that was captured during the 1967 war Most of the international community considers them illegal under international law
2 Why are these new settlements being called illegal
International law prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own civilian population into the territory it occupies The UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice have repeatedly stated that settlements violate this law
3 Is this about building houses in Gaza too
Yes The announcement specifically included plans for settlements inside the Gaza Strip This is highly controversial because Israel withdrew all its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005 The current Israeli government has stated it does not intend to reoccupy Gaza permanently but these ministerial statements suggest a change in policy
4 Who announced these plans
The announcements were made by specific Israeli ministers most notably Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar BenGvir who are part of the farright wing of the current coalition government
5 Does the Israeli government officially support this
The official position is mixed While these ministers have significant influence the full cabinet has not formally approved the specific plans mentioned However the government has previously approved funding and legalization for existing outposts in the West Bank
AdvancedLevel Questions
6 What is the difference between a settlement and an outpost
An outpost is a settlement built without official Israeli government authorization The government often retroactively legalizes them A settlement is one that has received official government approval The new plans blur this line by proposing to legalize existing unauthorized outposts
7 How does this affect the possibility of a twostate solution
These plans are widely seen as a death blow to a twostate solution Settlements fragment the West Bank making it impossible to create a contiguous Palestinian state Building in Gaza would completely undermine the idea of a Palestinian state in that territory
8 What is the practical timeline for these new settlements
The timeline is unclear Building a settlement requires detailed planning zoning security approvals
