JERUSALEM, Jan 29, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Thousands of Israelis, including far-
right ministers and allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gathered in 
Jerusalem on Sunday to call for the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in 
the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu in official statements has rejected resettlement in the Palestinian 
territory, where Israeli forces battle Hamas militants, but the rally shows 
that the once-fringe position has gained momentum within his hard-right 
government.

"If we don't want another October 7, we need to... control the territory," 
said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, alluding to the deadly Hamas 
attack that sparked the war, now in its fourth month.

The firebrand politician said Israel should "encourage voluntary emigration" 
of Palestinians from Gaza, echoing past remarks that drew sharp rebuke from 
close ally the United States and the wider international community.

Several participants carried guns, while outside the convention centre 
vendors sold t-shirts that read: "Gaza is part of the land of Israel."

Speakers at the rally, attended by members of Netanyahu's party and several 
other ministers, exhorted the premier to make their contentious dream a 
reality.

Some advocated the deportation of Gaza's Palestinians and declared that 
settlements were the only way to ensure security for Israelis.

"The Oslo Accords are dead, the people of Israel live," chanted the crowd, 
referring to the landmark Israeli-Palestinian agreements of the 1990s that 
gave Palestinians limited self-rule.

Sunday's rally aimed at pressuring the government to "return to the Gaza 
Strip and establish communities right away", said settler leader Daniella 
Weiss.

"The Arabs will not stay in Gaza," she claimed, "not Hamas, not the 
supporters of Hamas, and those who do not support Hamas don't want to stay 
anyway."

- 'Not realistic' -

Israel seized the Gaza Strip in 1967, during a war that also saw it capturing 
the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Over 400,000 Israelis now live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, 
deemed illegal under international law, alongside around three million 
Palestinians.

Israel unilaterally withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005.

The Hamas-ruled territory is home to around 2.4 million Palestinians, the 
vast majority of whom have been displaced by Israel's blistering air, land 
and sea offensive since October 7.

The Israeli military campaign, according to the Gaza health ministry, has 
killed at least 26,422 people, most of them women and children.

The October 7 attack that triggered it resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 
people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on 
official figures.

The Palestinians seek a future independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and 
Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Earlier in January, Netanyahu said he would "not compromise on full Israeli 
security control over all of the territory west of the Jordan (river) -- and 
that is in opposition to a Palestinian state."

He has, however, said Israeli resettlement of Gaza was "not a realistic 
target".

Netanyahu's government, the most religious and ultranationalist in Israel's 
75-year history, has prioritised West Bank settlement expansion since it took 
office in late 2022.

A growing chorus of Netanyahu's coalition partners are calling for renewed 
Israeli settlement of Gaza, in defiance of US President Joe Biden's 
administration.

The State Department in early January said: "Gaza is Palestinian land and 
will remain Palestinian land".