Right-wing ministers and parliamentarians in Israel are calling for the reinstatement of Jewish settlements in Gaza Strip, singing a refrain heard often in recent months, namely that “the Oslo Accords are dead.”
In front of thousands of sympathizers, 11 ministers and 15 members of the right-wing governing coalition in Israel chanted on Sunday evening for the reinstatement of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Some of those who spoke even advocated for the relocation of the Palestinian population after the end of the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, reports The Times of Israel.
“The Oslo Accords are dead”
Speaking in a carnival atmosphere at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party, praised the “virtues” of creating new settlements. “With God’s will, we will re-establish (the settlements, ed.) and we will be victorious,” he declared.
Later, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who leads the far-right Jewish Power party, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was not present at the event, that it was time to return home to Gush Katif, referring to a group of Israeli settlements in southern Gaza abandoned in 2005 as part of a unilateral disengagement process from the Palestinian enclave.
In Ben Gvir’s opinion, reinstating the settlements is the only way to guarantee Israel’s security. “Withdrawal leads to war and, if we don’t want another October 7, we must return home, control the territory and (…) encourage the” voluntary “departure of Palestinians from Gaza,” he argued.
Smotrich, Ben Gvir, and six other MPs present at the event signed a road map called the “Oath of Victory and the Reinstatement of Settlements,” which provides for the establishment of “lively” Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
In addition to them, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, also called for the reinstatement of Jewish settlements in Gaza, as well as the “encouragement of voluntary emigration” of Palestinians.
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