Katz vows Israel will build settlements in northern Gaza, later walks back comments

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : Defense Minister Israel Katz attends a ceremony at Jerusalem City Hall, December 15, 2025.
52% : At the Beit El meeting, Katz also praised what he called Israel's "practical sovereignty" in the West Bank.
46% : He also said Israel would "never leave" the enclave.
44% : That made him the most senior Israeli official to publicly support reconstructing the settlements Israel evacuated in 2005.
44% : Israel evacuated its settlements in Gaza, and withdrew all of its troops, under the 2005 Disengagement Plan.
43% : Speaking at a meeting marking the establishment of 1,200 new Jewish homes in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, Katz had pledged that Israel would resettle northern Gaza.
43% : " "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," Eisenkot posted on X. He chided the government for "continuing to make irresponsible, empty statements that only harm Israel's standing in the world.
42% : " A chorus of far-right voices in Netanyahu's coalition have called on Israel to rebuild settlements in Gaza in the wake of the war launched by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.
38% : But Katz said at the event Tuesday morning that Israel would not leave Gaza.
35% : " The statement contradicted Netanyahu, who has repeatedly vowed that Israel won't resettle Gaza.
29% : Trump has previously ruled out Israel annexing the territory and warned the government against doing so.
28% : (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday pledged that Israel would never leave the Gaza Strip and would resettle the northern part of the enclave, in defiance of commitments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.
24% : The document says Israel will withdraw from the territory and explicitly states, "Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.

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