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With the ruins of the Gaza Strip surrounding him, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last week again called for the establishment of illegal settlements in the north of the besieged territory.
“I want to establish three Nahal forces, which are also a military force, in the areas that were in the north of Gaza,” Katz told Channel 14, referring to the base that combines agriculture and armed forces in order to consolidate territory control.
The ministry said that, in its opinion, the establishment of the center will strengthen security – but the execution must be “in the right way, at the right time, and coordinate”.
This is not the first time that a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has made such a statement. In December, Katz he said the Israeli army would “not leaving Gaza at all” but “in time” they will establish the Nahal area despite the fact that the United States has agreed to a plan for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and a ban on the resettlement of Israeli settlements.
His comments are also in line with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s recent statement that “the foundations for the establishment of three settlements in North Gaza” have been completed. Smotrich, who is also responsible for “peacemaking” in the Ministry of Defense, has repeatedly called for a full operation in the Gaza Strip.
Such a push has been central to the goals of the Israeli immigration movement, which in January 2024 organized a meeting where government ministers met to promote the resettlement of settlements in the Strip.
“This is their view. They want Gazans to leave Gaza and they want to settle there just like they are living in the West Bank,” former Israeli ambassador Alon Liel told Al Jazeera.
All Palestinian settlements are illegal under international law, but expanding settlements and integration has been a major goal of the Netanyahu government. In recent years, it has expanded settlements to unprecedented levels, leading to the displacement and dispossession of many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Issam Younis, a prominent Palestinian human rights activist and director of the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, said he was not surprised by Katz’s recent comments. “It was clear from the first day of the massacre that the main goal was to make life impossible in Gaza by destroying everything,” he told Al Jazeera. “It’s a race for time – seize the land, starve to death in Gaza and deny any chance of life, then evacuate and build villages.”
Younis said Israel’s behavior during the war to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza and the “cease fire” agreed in October under the US plan clearly showed that the expulsion of people is the main goal of the Israeli government.
“The insulting words of the Israeli authorities confirmed this again: a call to the Palestinian people in Gaza ‘human animals’saying that there are no civilians in Gaza, it is clearly saying that his intention was to evict people and establish settlements in the Gaza Strip,” Younis added.
Israel has made no secret of that intention. In early 2025, the government announced that it was establishing an agency to oversee the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza as part of the plan proposed by Katz.
The announcement drew condemnation from many countries. Experts warned that such a move would be a war crime. Last month, the Israeli government decided to reform the organization and replace the issues of “free migration” with “free movement policy” while using “language that seems to be universally accepted”, according to Israeli media.
The plan has widespread support in Israel. A 2025 survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that 82 percent of Israeli Jews support the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
Meanwhile, nine months into the “ceasefire”, where Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,127 Palestinians, conditions in Gaza remain unbearable.
The United Nations says at least 265 children have been killed in the process as hunger continues and weak medical systems continue to run out of medicine.
“Only 20 percent of what Gaza needs has been allowed in – things related to water and health and life,” Younis said, referring to Israel’s restrictions on aid entering the Strip. “Gaza is suffering from hunger and drought because of water.” For him, the goal is clear: deportation, “even if they call it free migration”.
Liel said Israel is doing less in the way of humanitarian aid in order not to offend US President Donald Trump, who has established what he has called a Peace Council to oversee the administration.
“I don’t think Israel wants Gaza to be rebuilt like Trump is dreaming,” he said.
The Palestinians have been deeply disappointed by the failure of the Peace Council to pressure Israel or to implement the rehabilitation and construction plans outlined in Trump’s “cease fire” plan, including the entry of much-needed aid.
“The Peace Council is united until it plans to rebuild Gaza immediately,” Younis said. “Otherwise, it will not allow Israel to create conditions that make it impossible for the Palestinians to live in Gaza, which will lead to their expulsion.”
The Israeli army has also extended the “Yellow Line”, marking Israeli-controlled areas inside Gaza, to include 70 percent of the Line. “We are not leaving the ‘Yellow Line’, without a doubt, as long as Hamas does not remove real weapons, and even after this, we are still inside Gaza,” Katz told Channel 14 during his visit to northern Gaza, saying that the destruction of the area was “the result of a deliberate plan”.
The push to end the crisis comes as Israel prepares for elections to be held on October 27.
According to Liel, Katz and other ministers are talking openly about the construction of settlements in Gaza because their calculation is that it will increase their electoral chances between the right-wing revolution and the electorate.
Many observers expect that the weeks leading up to the election will be accompanied by a major escalation in Gaza, the West Bank and other Israeli “wars” without political change in Israel.
“The desire of the Israeli government was that most (Palestinians from Gaza) would leave. Hopefully freely. If not, Israel will help, and that’s why you don’t want to rebuild Gaza,” Liel said.
