Bezalel Smotrich Says Israel Prepared Three Settlements in North Gaza Pending Netanyahu Approval

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel has prepared plans to establish three settlements in the Gaza Strip and that the Defense Ministry Settlement Administration, which he administers, “has completed the groundwork to establish three settlements in the north Gaza area,” pending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval.

“Eight Palestinians were martyred and dozens were injured in Israeli occupation attacks today, Monday, in Gaza, while an Israeli minister announced that preparations to establish three settlements in the Strip have been completed”

Al-Jazeera Net

Smotrich made the remarks after meeting with Alon Davidi, mayor of Sderot, during a tour of Gaza-border communities to review rehabilitation projects for areas devastated by the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war.

Al-Jazeera Net

Smotrich also said the Israel Defense Forces should seize more than the 70 percent of Gaza’s land that it currently controls, and he claimed, “Where there is no settlement, there is no security.”

The Times of Israel reported that Smotrich’s remarks came as Netanyahu said he ordered the IDF to take control of 70% of Gaza, and it described the ceasefire as halting the war triggered by the October 7 attack.

In parallel, Al Jazeera Net said Israeli occupation attacks left eight Palestinians martyred and dozens injured in Gaza on Monday, while it also reported Smotrich announced preparations to establish three settlements in the Strip had been completed.

Medical officials said Israeli airstrikes killed at least eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as ceasefire efforts aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Hamas stalling, according to Reuters as carried by swissinfo.ch.

The Reuters report said medics reported an airstrike killed one Palestinian near a police station and another inside a camp in Khan Younis, and it added that a separate incident saw an airstrike kill at least three people in a charitable kitchen near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

SWI swissinfo.ch

In the same Reuters account, Israel said it killed a gunman who posed an immediate threat to troops, and it said the charitable-kitchen strike targeted a Hamas commander developing anti-tank rockets.

Separately, Al Jazeera Net described Monday’s raids as resulting in eight martyrs including two girls, and it said a source at Nasser Hospital reported the martyrdom of a mother and her daughter.

Al Jazeera Net also stated that Gaza’s health ministry said Israeli violations since the start of the ceasefire have resulted in the martyrdom of 1,045 Palestinians and injuries to 3,380, most of them children and women.

Croix-Rouge française reported that eight Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers were killed in Gaza, saying a nine-member emergency medical team disappeared with its ambulances after taking heavy fire in Al-Hashashin on March 23 and that bodies were found on March 30.

“Medics: Eight Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Cairo, May 17 (Reuters) – Medical officials said Israeli airstrikes killed at least eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as efforts to reach a ceasefire aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas stall”

SWI swissinfo.ch

The Croix-Rouge française account said the bodies included ambulance workers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer and Ezzedine Shaath, as well as volunteer rescuers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed Al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed Al Sharif and Rifatt Radwan, while ambulance driver Assad Al-Nassasra remained missing.

International Federation Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said, “These dedicated ambulance workers were rescuing the wounded,” and he added, “Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules.”

The Reuters-based swissinfo.ch report said indirect talks between Israel and Hamas remain stalled as efforts proceed with U.S. President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for Gaza, which aims to end the war between the two sides.

It also said statistics that do not distinguish between militants and civilians indicate that about 870 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the ceasefire took effect in October, while Israel says militants killed four of its soldiers in the same period.