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In Israel, there are growing calls inside the right-wing government for a permanent occupation of Gaza and to reestablish Jewish settlements there. Israel's prime minister says settling Gaza is not his government's policy, but his allies are laying out a clear strategy, and his opponents say the military's latest moves could make it possible. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from the Gaza border.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Non-English language spoken).
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Israeli settlers from the West Bank and their supporters rallied this week in a dusty field near Gaza; so dusty you could taste it and so close to Gaza that Israeli artillery fire went off around us.
DANIELLE WEISS: (Speaking Hebrew).
(SOUNDBITE OF ARTILLERY FIRE)
ESTRIN: Another boom.
WEISS: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: "Boom, boom, boom," said settler activist Daniella Weiss. "The enemy needs to be destroyed, to be taken out of this country. The Gaza Arabs lost their right to be here."
WEISS: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: It was the third rally this year calling to settle Gaza. There was popcorn, merchandise, a Gaza settlement jigsaw puzzle for kids, stickers that said Jews revenge, maps of Gaza dotted with the names of future settlements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said settling Gaza is not a realistic goal, but prominent members of his Likud party are trying to make the case why it should eventually become reality. Government Minister May Golan said conquering land is the proper response to the Hamas attack last October 7.
MAY GOLAN: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: She said, "those who use land to plan a holocaust against the Jewish state would receive another Nakba" - the Arabic term for the mass displacement of Palestinians in Israel's founding war. Lawmaker Tally Gotliv is a rising star in Netanyahu's party.
TALLY GOTLIV: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: She told NPR settling Gaza is not an official Israeli policy now, but she wants to convince Netanyahu to adopt it. Another lawmaker from Netanyahu's party, Avichai Buaron, told NPR the first step to eventual settlements should be a long-term army presence in Gaza after the war.
AVICHAI BUARON: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: He said Israel would need to keep boots on the ground in Gaza to prevent another attack. He said Gaza should follow the West Bank model. He argued what keeps the army on the ground long term is the presence of hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers.
Israel had settlements in Gaza till 2005. Until recently, most analysts and commentators in Israel thought resettling Gaza was far-fetched. What makes many of them now believe Israel is clearing out an area for possible future settlement is the military's intensified assault in a besieged area of north Gaza. Israel says there have been recent mass evacuations of some 20,000 Palestinians there.
Eran Etzion, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser, believes expulsion is Israel's unstated goal, and he opposes it.
ERAN ETZION: One of the major lessons since the massacre of October 7 is that nothing is beyond the realm of the possible, unfortunately. We're in this period of turmoil, chaos, breaking of norms, crossing red lines that no Israeli would have predicted, even a few months ago.
AYALA METZGER: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: Some Israelis protested outside the settlement rally. Ayala Metzger, whose father-in-law was taken hostage and killed in Gaza, said settling Gaza would prolong the conflict.
METZGER: It won't bring our hostages back, and it won't bring peace. It will be just by a war, and I don't want more war and more war and more war.
ESTRIN: An Israeli who lives in a West Bank settlement, Chanan Blankenstein, walked by.
CHANAN BLANKENSTEIN: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: He said, "settlement comes naturally. First, the army will stay in Gaza to ensure security for Israel." He said, "let's wait and see what will happen in 10 years."
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, on the Gaza border.
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