Smotrich calls for re-establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza

Israeli far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called for the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza when speaking at the inaugural event for the Torah and Land Center in the southern kibbutz of Nitzan.

"Our heroic fighters and soldiers are destroying the evil of Hamas and we will occupy the Gaza Strip," he said. "To tell the truth - where there is no settlement, there is no security."

The event was reportedly attended by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, and Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock. 

Nitzan is home to many former Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip, who left following the Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave in 2005.