Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz unveiled on Tuesday, December 23, a plan to establish what he called “new military-agricultural outposts” in the northern Gaza Strip.
Katz added that these outposts will replace the 21 illegal Israeli settlements, which were evacuated when the IOF withdrew from the war-torn enclave in 2005.
“With God’s help, when the time comes, also in northern Gaza, we will establish pioneer groups in place of the settlements that were evacuated,” the Israeli minister said at a ceremony marking the establishment of 1,200 new settlement units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El.
“We’ll do it in the right way, at the appropriate time,” he asserted.
Katz further vowed that the IOF will not fully withdraw from the besieged strip, as the Israeli infantry brigade (Nahal) will be deployed in the proposed outposts in northern Gaza.
“In due course, we will establish Nahal outposts in northern Gaza in place of the settlements that were uprooted,” he noted.
Katz’s statements on resettling Israeli colonists in Gaza, and not withdrawing the Nahal brigade from the territory, contradict what was set out in the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal.
Katz backtracks on his settlement remarks after reported criticism by US officials
Hours after he had made his controversial remarks, Katz seems to have backtracked over reported criticism by US officials, who expressed their dissatisfaction and demanded clarifications, amid uncertainty about the negotiations on phase two of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The Israeli Defense Minister released an additional statement later on Tuesday, justifying that his suggestion to integrate Nahal brigade in northern Gaza was put forward “solely in a security context.”
“The government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip.” Katz affirmed.
Israel has committed 875 violations of Gaza ceasefire deal
Katz’s provocative statements came one day after the Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip had reported on Monday, December 22 that the Israeli occupation committed 875 violations of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
These violations resulted in deaths of at least 411 Palestinians, and the injuries of 1,112 others since the deal took effect on October 10.
In turn, the official death toll of Palestinians killed by Israel since the genocide started on October 7, 2023, has risen to over 70,942 people.
The post Israel reveals settlement plan in northern Gaza after committing over 857 ceasefire violations appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
From Peoples Dispatch via This RSS Feed.