Israel's defence minister walks back pledge to establish Gaza settlements

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz backtracked on a pledge on Tuesday that Israel would establish settlements in Gaza, following criticism the statement goes against the US-led peace plan for the Strip.

Speaking at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Katz said that "with God's help," Israel would establish pioneer groups in northern Gaza “in place of the settlements that were evacuated."

“We will do this in the right way, at the appropriate time,” he added. The video spread on social media and became widely criticised.

Hours later, Katz's office released a statement clarifying that his comment was made in a "security context," reiterating that Israel "has no intention to establish settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Katz's statement clashes with US President Donald Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan and previous comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly ruled out occupying Gaza.

Meanwhile, the US-brokered ceasefire plan calls for the near-total withdrawal of Israeli forces and does not mention Israeli settlements in the enclave.

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity condemned Katz's statement, “The more Israel provokes, the less the Arab countries will want to work with them,” the official said.

Washington expects “all parties to adhere to the commitments they made" under the ceasefire plan, they added.

Katz was referring to Nahal military units that in the past allowed youths to combine pioneering activities with military service. Many of the outposts established by the unit went on to evolve into full-fledged settlements.

Israel evacuated its settlements in Gaza and withdrew all of its troops under the 2005 Disengagement Plan.

Some officials in Netanyahu's far-right coalition have previously called on Israel to rebuild settlements in Gaza following the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war.

Israeli settler violence in West Bank continues

Overnight into Tuesday, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said.

The settlers smashed a door and a window and fired tear gas inside a home in the town of As Samu’. Three Palestinian children had to be rushed to the hospital. The attackers also killed three sheep and injured four others in the stable, according to officials.

An office documenting attacks within a Palestinian governmental body, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, released CCTV footage in which five settlers can be seen wearing masks and dark clothing, some equipped with batons.

Police say they are investigating the incident and added that they arrested five settlers on suspicion of trespassing onto Palestinian land, damaging property and dispensing pepper spray, rather than tear gas.

The attack marked the second attack on the family in less than two months' time, a commission official said, adding that it was “part of a systematic and ongoing pattern of settler violence targeting Palestinian civilians, their property and their means of livelihood, carried out with impunity under the protection of the Israeli occupation".

Attacks by Israeli settlers often rise during the olive harvest season, from September to November, a critical period for Palestinian income.

During October's olive harvest, settlers across the territory launched an average of eight attacks daily, according to the United Nations humanitarian office.

The West Bank is home to some 3 million Palestinians and more than half a million Israeli settlers.

The international community considers West Bank settlements illegal under international law, which Israel disputes.