DM Katz floats Gaza settlements, then walks back plans after Netanyahu rebuke

Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said he wanted to establish settlements in the Gaza Strip, contradicting statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before walking back the statement amid criticism.

Katz was speaking at an event celebrating the establishment of 1,200 new homes in the town of Beit El in Samaria on Tuesday.

“With God’s help, when the time comes, also in northern Gaza, we will establish Nahal pioneer groups in place of the settlements that were evacuated,” he said. “We’ll do it in the right way, at the appropriate time.”

The IDF’s Nahal infantry brigade has a special track allowing soldiers to combine pioneering activities with military service, and in the past established outposts that went on to become full-fledged settlements.

“We are deep inside Gaza, and we will never leave Gaza – there will be no such thing,” Katz vowed. “We are here to defend and to prevent what happened from happening again.”

Over the course of the war, Prime Minister Netanyahu had emphasized repeatedly that Israel doesn’t plan to establish new settlements in the Gaza Strip, despite such demands from right-wing leaders in his coalition.

According to Army Radio, citing senior Israeli officials, Netanyahu was “very angry” at Katz and demanded he clarify his statement.

This also came after the Trump administration reportedly conveyed a message saying it was “very sensitive to any such statement” at the moment.

Several hours later, Katz walked back his comments in another statement first published in English, and later in Hebrew.

“The defense minister’s remarks regarding the integration of Nahal units in the northern Gaza Strip were made solely in security-related contexts,” the statement read.

“The government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip. The defense minister emphasized the central principle of border defense in every arena: the IDF is the first and last line of defense for Israel’s citizens, and the State of Israel relies for its defense only on it and on the security forces.”

Despite Katz’s statement, a U.S. official told media outlets that the statement was harming the Trump administration’s efforts to advance its Gaza Peace Plan.

“The more Israel provokes, the less the Arab countries want to work with them,” the official said.

“The United States remains fully committed to President Trump’s 20-Point Peace Plan, which was agreed to by all parties and endorsed by the international community. The plan envisions a phased approach to security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza. We expect all parties to adhere to the commitments they made under the 20-Point Plan,” he added.

Former IDF chief and leader of the new party “Yashar,” Gadi Eisenkot, also criticized the government for making “irresponsible, empty statements that only harm Israel’s standing in the world.”

“While the government votes with one hand in favor of the Trump plan, with the other it sells myths about isolated settlements in the Gaza Strip,” he charged.

Katz has clashed with the IDF leadership as well as with Netanyahu in recent weeks.

Last month, the prime minister chided Likud lawmakers who he said were already campaigning and jockeying for position in the coming elections through public statements, in comments widely seen to target Katz.