From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Settler groups hail renewed fighting in Gaza; one urges expelling population
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Settlement organizations welcome Israel’s renewed combat operations in Gaza, with one group repeating its demand to expel the Palestinian population from the territory and reestablish Jewish settlements.
“This is the time to strike the enemy in Gaza and to change reality,” says the Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing settlement municipal authorities in the West Bank.
“Defeating Hamas prevents an existential threat to the State of Israel in the Gaza envelope region, the cities of central Israel, and in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank],” the organization says.
The Nachala organization, which has campaigned for the establishment of settlements in Gaza since the early days of the war, also welcomes the resumption of fighting and repeats its advocacy for forcibly expelling Palestinians from Gaza.
“From here on, the path to decisive victory is clear and unambiguous — occupation, expulsion, settlement.
“The time has come for a full Jewish return to the Gaza Strip.”
The Times of Israel Community.