From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 19, 2026
Smotrich reiterates call to establish settlements inside Gaza
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy and settle the Gaza Strip, insisting that the end of the war in Gaza must be accompanied by territorial expansion.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the resettlement of the West Bank town of Sa-Nur, which was evacuated during the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank, Smotrich criticizes members of the opposition who have demanded that Israel’s military accomplishments be followed by political and diplomatic achievements, saying they are pushing for “surrender and defeat,” while he wants a conclusion which “establishes military achievements and expands the state’s borders as defensible borders.”
Sa-Nur was one of a number of settlements approved or retroactively legalized by the government in May 2025.
“Instead of handing over territory to the enemy,” Israel must “take territory from the enemy,” he says, arguing that unless Hamas complies with US President Donald Trump’s demand to disarm and demilitarize the the Palestinian enclave, Netanyahu should “order the IDF to immediately prepare for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip and the central camps, to establish Israeli control over the entire territory of the strip and to establish Israeli settlements there.”
“Without settlements, there will be no security,” Smotrich insists, adding that the war “must end with the expansion of the borders of the State of Israel.”
Smotrich has a history of publicly calling on Netanyahu to annex and settle territories in the West Bank and Gaza. Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any Israeli intention to establish settlements inside Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.