![Israel's Finance Minister and leader of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich on March 20, 2023 [GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/GettyImages-1248867985-scaled-e1691569630698.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for rebuilding settlements in the Gaza Strip, nearly two decades after Israel withdrew from the Strip.
Speaking at the opening of the Torah and Land Centre in the southern kibbutz of Nitzan, home to many residents of the former Gush Katif settlements, Smotrich said the next centre should be built in Gush Katif.
“Our heroic fighters and soldiers are destroying the evil of Hamas, and we will occupy the Gaza Strip” he asserted, adding: “To tell the truth – where there is no settlement, there is no security.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel and Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock were also in attendance at the event.