Deputy Defense Minister Smotrich has repeatedly argued that Israel must confront the source of the October 7th massacre: the 2005 IDF retreat from Gaza and the subsequent transfer of territorial control to Hamas.
By Hezy Laing
The Settlement Directorate within the Ministry of Defense has begun preparing formal planning files for the establishment of three new Israeli settlements along the northern edge of the Gaza Strip.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds authority over civilian administration in Judea and Samaria through the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration portfolio, stated in late June 2026 that the Directorate has already mapped the proposed sites and initiated preliminary infrastructure assessments.
The plans were drafted in coordination with senior officials in the Defense Ministry, including Director General Eyal Zamir and the head of the Settlement Directorate, Yair Pines, who previously served as director of the Israel Land Authority.
The proposed settlements are intended to be located near the former Erez Crossing, the Netiv HaAsara area, and the northern coastal strip adjacent to Zikim, with master plans already under development for transportation links, water infrastructure, and security perimeters.
Smotrich emphasized that the initiative reflects historic opportunity created by the post‑war security reality following the October 2023 Hamas attack and the subsequent IDF campaign.
He has repeatedly argued that Israel must confront the source of the October 7th massacre: the 2005 IDF retreat from Gaza and the subsequent transfer of territorial control to Hamas.
In multiple public statements, Smotrich has insisted that the strategic error was not merely the destruction of the Jewish communities and retreat fo the IDF, but the creation of a political vacuum that allowed Hamas to consolidate military power, build a vast tunnel network, and prepare the assault that killed more than 1,200 Israelis.
The absence of Israeli communities and permanent IDF infrastructure, he said, created the conditions that made Hamas’s attack possible, and that the lessons of October 7th demand a fundamentally different security doctrine.
Smotrich’s argument is now intertwined with his support for new settlement planning along the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, which he says will strengthen Israel’s strategic depth and ensure that no terrorist organization ever rebuilds military capabilities in northern Gaza.
Smotrich has already walked back the IDF retreat in northern Samaria as well as rebuilt and added to the settlements in that region. His plan is to do the same for Gaza which was home to over 8,000 Israelis just 20 years ago.
