From settlements to blocked recovery: Israeli strategy taking shape in Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has renewed his push to establish settlements in northern Gaza, proposing three Nahal outposts in the battered territory. These bases, which combine farming with an armed presence, are intended to consolidate Israeli control over the area.

Katz stated that establishing these settlements would enhance security, though he acknowledged that execution would require careful timing and coordination. This is not the first time Katz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, has voiced such intentions. In December, he indicated that Israel would "never leave all of Gaza" and would eventually establish Nahal posts, despite a U.S.-brokered plan for a full Israeli military withdrawal and a ban on re-establishing settlements.

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I intend to establish three Nahal outposts, which is also a military entity, in those places that were in northern Gaza.

These remarks align with statements from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who reported that groundwork for three settlements in northern Gaza was complete. Smotrich, who also oversees "settlement administration," has consistently advocated for the full occupation of Gaza. The Israeli settler movement has also been a driving force, organizing a conference in January 2024 attended by government ministers to promote the re-establishment of settlements in the Strip.

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This is their ideology. They want the Gazans out of Gaza and they want to settle there like they settle in the West Bank.

Former Israeli diplomat Alon Liel commented that the ideology behind these moves is to expel Gazans and settle the territory, similar to practices in the West Bank. International law considers all settlements on Palestinian land illegal. However, the current Israeli government has pursued unprecedented settlement expansion in the West Bank, leading to the displacement of Palestinian communities and de facto annexation of land.

Issam Younis, director of the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, expressed no surprise at Katz's comments. He believes the primary goal of the ongoing conflict has been to make life impossible in Gaza by destroying everything, facilitating land seizure, starving the population, and ultimately expelling them to build settlements. Younis pointed to statements by senior Israeli officials, including dehumanizing remarks about Palestinians, as evidence that expelling the population is a key objective of the Israeli government.

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It was very clear from day one in the genocide that the main goal was to make life impossible in Gaza by destroying everything.