Israeli finance minister calls for building settlements near Gaza amid ongoing offensive
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called for the construction of three new Israeli settlements along the northern fence of Gaza.
The statement comes as Israeli military attacks continue in Gaza and the occupied West Bank despite a ceasefire agreement announced in October.
Smotrich, who heads Israel's Settlements Administration, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the plan in a post on X.
"The Settlements Administration under my leadership is prepared to establish 3 settlements in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, and I call on the Prime Minister to give the green light to the move," he wrote.
Israelis are "returning" to settlements evacuated in 2005, Smotrich said, adding that Israel would establish additional settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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"Alongside the four settlements to which we are returning, we will establish a long line of new settlements in northern Samaria. On Mount Ebal, in the Dothan Valley, and in more than 10 additional points, we will strengthen and fortify the settlement," he said.
Israel withdrew its settlers and military installations from Gaza in 2005 under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, dismantling all settlements in the enclave as well as four settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Earlier today, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said six Palestinians were killed and 23 wounded in Israeli attacks over the last 24 hours.
The ministry said at least 73,356 Palestinians have been killed and 174,185 wounded since Israel began its genocidal war in October 2023. It added that 1,230 people have been killed and 4,076 injured since the ceasefire took effect last year.
However, according to Al Jazeera Arabic, nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since dawn, including three children.
And local media reported that the number of people killed in Israeli attacks had risen to at least 11 after an air strike hit a vehicle in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said it killed Salem Jamal Abdelrahman Abu Labad, whom it identified as a commander in Hamas's Nukhba special forces, in an air strike in southern Gaza on Saturday. It said Abu Labad had participated in the October 2023 attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The military also said it killed Muhammad Abdelnasser Muhammad Khatib, whom it identified as a commander in Hamas's Maghazi Battalion, in a separate strike in central Gaza on Friday.
Meanwhile, Hamas said on Friday that any agreement on the "complete disarmament" of Palestinian factions in Gaza depends on Washington and Israel honouring commitments made under last year's ceasefire.
The statement followed US President Donald Trump's announcement that the US-led Board of Peace had secured an agreement to disarm Hamas and every other armed group in Gaza.
Former Israeli Ambassador Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera that Israel was "absolutely not" satisfied with the arrangement.
"Israel is presented with a situation where the US president says there's an agreement, but there isn't really an agreement, and so I am extraordinarily sceptical that this is going to work out," Pinkas said.
He added that Netanyahu viewed the agreement as a "colossal failure" and said Israel had yet to implement measures expected under the deal, including withdrawing to the "Yellow Line" buffer zone, allowing unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza and halting military operations.
Israeli media outlet Ynet has reported that the United States is expected to deploy about 10 additional aerial refuelling aircraft to Israel in the coming days, citing unnamed Israeli security officials.
The report said the aircraft would join more than 30 US refuelling planes already stationed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport.
In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces detained five Palestinians during raids in Bethlehem and Nablus.
The agency said Israeli troops also raided homes and posted threatening signs on the walls of the Salah al-Din Mosque in Bethlehem.
The raids followed a week of intensified Israeli military and settler attacks, particularly around the village of Tal near Nablus, where four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed after armed settlers attacked Palestinian villages last week.
Separately, Hamas said a delegation led by Zaher Jabarin met Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders in Cairo on Saturday to discuss efforts to end Israel's attacks in Gaza and developments in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
The group said the two sides stressed the need to compel Israel to withdraw fully from Gaza and called for closer coordination between Palestinian factions.
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