Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene his high-level security cabinet on Thursday to discuss expanding the war against Hamas, including the potential full military occupation of the Gaza Strip.
The prospect comes against the backdrop of the 20th anniversary of Israel’s full disengagement from the enclave, as calls for resettlement — once confined to the political fringes — have entered the mainstream, including within the government, particularly in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
Rebuilding Jewish communities in Gaza would be "a historic correction to a national injustice," Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Israel’s minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, told Fox News Digital.
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"Expelling Jews from their homes in their own country was a strategic and moral mistake that led to the rise of an Islamist terrorist regime called Hamas," he said. "That mistake enabled Hamas to fire relentless rockets and ultimately carry out the October 7 massacre — which included murder, rape, abuse, looting, and, of course, the kidnapping of soldiers and civilians."
Wasserlauf invoked the bloc of 17 Israeli communities, collectively known as Gush Katif, which was established in Gaza after the 1967 Six-Day War. In August 2005, as part of Israel’s unilateral disengagement, the government forcibly removed approximately 8,600 Jewish residents from the area.
He said reapplying Israeli sovereignty "would send a clear message: whoever strikes us loses the ground beneath his feet. Only in this way can true deterrence be achieved," Wasserlauf continued. "We need to create facts on the ground. There must be no agreements with terrorists. Settlement in Gaza must, at the very least, be the price that reminds everyone terrorism does not pay."
From 1948 to 1967, the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian occupation. After Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War, it remained under full Israeli control until 1994, when administrative responsibility was transferred to the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords — paving the way for Yasser Arafat’s return from exile in Tunis.
In 2005, Israel evacuated all military personnel and civilian communities from Gaza. Shortly thereafter, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections and staged a violent coup to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and seize control of the Strip.
A year after Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza, evacuating all military personnel and civilian communities, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections and, shortly thereafter, staged a violent coup to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and seize control of the Strip.
Wasserlauf argued that critics of the disengagement had long warned that any concession of land would only embolden terrorists. These warnings, he said, were ignored, but ultimately proven correct by the events that followed.
He acknowledged that renewed settlement in Gaza would likely trigger political backlash both domestically and abroad. "The countries that support us will stand with us, and those that consistently oppose us will remain against us … I remind you that there were countries that urged us not to strike Iran, despite its race toward nuclear weapons and its explicit goal of destroying Israel."
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Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital that Israel’s core national security doctrine of deterrence is being tested by jihadist groups like Hamas, which operate according to a radically different set of rules.
Avivi, founder and chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said that Israel's approach to Gaza may ultimately hinge on U.S. support, especially from President Donald Trump. "If the U.S. president advocates for massive relocation and taking control of Gaza to implement his own vision, it would suggest some kind of basic understanding between the two sides," Avivi said.
He estimated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) currently controls about 75% of Gaza, with past decisions largely driven by military considerations. However, he said that the remaining 25% of the territory involves broader strategic decisions, shaped by how Israel and the United States view the future of the area, including Jewish settlement.
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser, told Fox News Digital that resettling Gaza should not be part of Israel's agenda.
"We have one mission now, and that is to dismantle Hamas," he said. "We’ll talk about the day after, the day after. To bring back any level of normalcy to Gaza, we need to find partners — and I don’t know who those partners would be if we settle in Gaza."
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Amidror, a distinguished fellow with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said that Israel must in the long-term remain solely responsible for security in Gaza, citing past failures when control was transferred to the Palestinians after the Oslo Accords. He argued that reestablishing settlements could complicate that mission, asserting that security should remain solely in the hands of the IDF.
Religious Zionism lawmaker Simcha Rothman told Fox News Digital that "If we are trying to achieve peace, any agreement or situation in which Jews cannot live in their ancient homeland is not just," but acknowledged it is not one of Israel’s official war objectives. "While resettling Gaza is the right thing to do, it is not part of the current effort."
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, reiterated that resettling Gaza is not part of the Israeli government’s declared war objectives.
"If Israel needs to reoccupy Gaza militarily, it should be to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages — not to annex Gaza as part of Israel. There are 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, maybe more," Yadlin, who is currently president of MIND Israel, told Fox News Digital.
"Israel does not want to rule over them or provide for all their needs. It would cost billions and alter the demographic balance. This idea is being pushed by right-wing elements in the government, and even the prime minister and his party do not support it," he said.
Daniella Weiss, general director of the Nachala Settlement Movement, told Fox News Digital that the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attack signals the start of a new era. "I think we should go much further than what existed in 2005. Back then, we were 10,000 people in Gaza. Our movement, Nachala, has proposed a plan for 1.2 million Jews in Gaza," Weiss said.
She said her organization is already taking tangible steps to begin the process, "We’ve organized six groups of young families—more than 1,000 families—who are willing to move to Gaza now," she said.
While Weiss expressed regret that the Israeli government has not included Jewish resettlement in its official war objectives, she insisted that in Israel’s democracy, public pressure can influence government policy.
"The basic truth is that the Gaza area is part of the western Negev," she said. "Historically, it was part of the area of the tribe of Yehuda. To turn your back on that is wrong."
