Defying PM and Washington, Katz says Israel will resettle north Gaza ‘at appropriate time’
Contradicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated assertions that Israel does not plan to resettle Gaza, as well as the US peace plan for the enclave, Defense Minister Israel Katz tells settlements leaders, “With God’s help when the time comes, we will also establish… pioneer groups in northern Gaza, in place of the settlements that were evacuated.”
“We will do this in the right way, at the appropriate time,” Katz says at a meeting to mark the establishment of 1,200 new Jewish homes in the West Bank settlement of Beit El.
He adds: “We are in a period of practical sovereignty. There are opportunities here that have not existed for a long time.”
He also says Israel will not leave the Strip: “We are deep inside Gaza and we will never leave Gaza — there will be no such thing. We are here to defend and to prevent what happened from happening again.”
Both statements contradict US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which calls for an eventual Israeli withdrawal and stipulates that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.”
Numerous members of Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition have expressed their desire to rebuild settlements in the Gaza Strip, evacuated in 2005, in the wake of the 7 October 2023, Hamas attack and two-year war in the territory — a move that would doubtless face intense international backlash and which is opposed by the Trump administration.
The prime minister has insisted there are no plans to do so.
Photo: Defense Minister Israel Katz attends the signing of a housing framework agreement at Jerusalem`s City Hall, 15 December 2025. Source: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.
