Israel to resettle northern Gaza, says defense chief

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says IDF will reestablish bases evacuated from northern Samaria and build outpost settlements in the northern Gaza Strip.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s defense chief announced Tuesday that the IDF will take steps to cement Israel’s presence in areas evacuated during the 2005 Disengagement Plan, including northern Samaria, and parts of the Gaza Strip.

Katz addressed a ceremony in the town of Beit El, north of Jerusalem, marking the signing of an agreement under which the IDF will relocate its regional headquarters, enabling the construction of 1,200 new housing units in Beit El.

“The State of Israel is once again expressing, in the clearest possible way, its commitment and confidence in settlement in Judea and Samaria, which safeguards the heart of our land and connects us to our heritage, our roots, and our ideology,” Katz said.

“The security reality of recent years has taught us that where there is settlement, there is an improved security reality. Just as settlement protects a large portion of Israel’s citizens, so it is our role to ensure that we protect the protector.”

“Settlement is a central component of a broad effort to ‘remove and thwart,’ in a proactive and decisive manner, threats that endanger the settlers throughout Judea and Samaria — and of course here as well, in the Binyamin region.”

Katz said the IDF would rebuild bases in northern Samaria that were evacuated as part of Ariel Sharon’s Gaza Disengagement Plan, and pledged that Israel would remain in control of the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights on the Syrian frontier, which has been under IDF control since last December.

Additionally, the Israeli defense chief pledged that Israel would maintain a permanent presence in the Gaza Strip, and said that “when the time comes,” Israel will begin to resettle the Gaza Strip, establishing Nahal outposts in northern Gaza.

“We are deep inside Gaza and will never leave all of Gaza — that will never happen. We don’t trust anyone. We will not move a millimeter in Syria; we will not allow threats.”

“With God’s help, when the time comes, we will establish Nahal pioneer groups in northern Gaza in place of the settlements that were evacuated, in the proper way and at the appropriate time.”

Katz’s comments mark the first time the Israeli government has committed to reestablishing a permanent presence in the Gaza Strip, contradicting prior claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Yesha Council, an umbrella group which represents Israeli towns and cities in Judea and Samaria, lauded Katz’s decision.

“We congratulate Defense Minister Israel Katz on his important announcement regarding the establishment of Nahal pioneer groups in the Gaza Strip. The uprooting of the settlements and the expulsion of the Jews were a grave injustice; settlement in Gaza is the correction!”

“Settlement in the Strip has always strengthened the security of southern Israel and the State of Israel as a whole. Now it will also make clear to the enemy that for the massacre of October 7, he pays with land — permanently.”