Lina Altawell
20 July 2026•Update: 20 July 2026
Israeli Settlement Minister Orit Strock called on Monday for rebuilding settlements in the Gaza Strip, claiming the enclave is “part of the Land of Israel.”
“Jews should live in the Gaza Strip. The demand to rebuild Jewish settlements is a correct demand,” Strock said in comments carried by Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.
“Gaza is part of Israel not only according to the Torah and Halakha, but also according to international law,” she claimed.
International law considers Gaza part of the occupied Palestinian territory and says Israeli settlements in occupied land have no legal validity and violate international law and UN resolutions.
Strock’s remarks came a day after Israeli government ministers joined thousands of occupiers in a march through a closed military zone toward the Gaza border to show support for illegal settlement building in the enclave.
Israeli news site The Times of Israel said the march was staged to mark the 21st anniversary of Israel’s evacuation of the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip.
In August 2005, Israel evacuated four illegal settlements in the northern West Bank and the Gush Katif bloc in southern Gaza as part of its unilateral disengagement plan under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The outlet said extremist ministers and politicians took part in the march, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
According to organizers from the occupier group Nachala, 28 ministers and lawmakers from the ruling coalition attended the event.
On Sunday evening, Ben-Gvir posted a video on his X account under the title “Our Gaza.”
“If they had said three years ago that we would control 70% of the Gaza Strip, no one would have believed it. That is why I say today there will be Jewish settlements across all of Gaza, and we will encourage migration,” he said.
It came amid growing calls by leaders of Israel’s far right to reestablish illegal settlements in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 73,000 people and injured over 173,000 others in a brutal offensive since October 2023.
