Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Monday that planning work has been completed for the establishment of three new Jewish communities in the northern Gaza Strip, saying the proposal is ready for immediate implementation once it receives Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s approval.

Following a meeting with Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, Smotrich said the Settlement Administration in the Defense Ministry has completed its planning work and is prepared to move forward as soon as the government gives the green light.

“The Settlement Administration under my leadership in the Defense Ministry has completed its planning work, and we are ready to establish three communities immediately once we receive the prime minister’s approval,” Smotrich said. “I call on the prime minister: Give the approval. Let’s complete the mission and restore real security to the residents of the south.”

Smotrich added that the IDF currently controls nearly 70% of the Gaza Strip and argued that Israel should complete its campaign against Hamas while establishing what he described as a belt of Jewish communities to serve as a security buffer for Sderot and the surrounding communities. “Where there is no settlement, there is no security,” he said. “We are not returning to the reality that existed before October 7.”

Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi thanked Smotrich for his support of the Gaza border region and said he had urged the minister to continue the fighting until the threat to Sderot and the surrounding communities is removed, calling that the minimum required for residents to live in security.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)