Several members of the Israeli government attended a far-right conference calling for the resettlement of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

The conference entitled “Settlement Brings Security and Victory” organized by the right-wing organization Nahala on Sunday evening called for the construction of new Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories. The call from politicians and activists gathered in occupied East Jerusalem came amid international pressure on Israel to confirm that it would respect Palestinian statehood after the end of the war on Gaza.

Israel withdrew its military and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 after 38 years of occupation. Debate continues over who will run the enclave after the end of the war that began after Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel does not intend to maintain a permanent presence again, but insisted Israel would maintain security control indefinitely.

Israel’s international partners, led by the United States, said a two-state solution was the only path that would guarantee the security of both sides. Netanyahu, facing significant political pressure, is resisting despite not offering a clear plan for what his government plans to do going forward.

“No security without resettlement”

Israeli Channel 12 reported that twelve ministers from Netanyahu’s Likud party attended the conference. His far-right coalition partners, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, reiterated their calls for Palestinians to be removed from Gaza.

Smotrich said many of the evacuated children returned as soldiers to fight in a war with Hamas. He said he had in the past spoken out against the government’s decision to evacuate Jewish settlements from Gaza.

“We knew what this would bring and we tried to prevent it,” Smotrich said in a speech. “Without settlements there is no security.”

The crowd roared with enthusiastic calls to rebuild the settlements.

Ben-Gvir said he had protested against the evacuation of Jewish settlements from Gaza, warning that it would bring “missiles to Sderot” and “missiles to Ashkelon” in southern Israel.

“We shouted and warned,” Ben-Gvir said. “If [we] We don’t want another October 7th, we have to go back home and control the country.”

“Without reconstruction, there is no way to win this war[ing] of Gush Katif and the Gaza Strip. There should be Jewish villages and Jewish cities,” Moshe Feiglin, a former member of the Knesset, said at the conference.

“This is the only way to win this bloody war. And Israel cannot afford not to win this war,” he added.

Some Israeli politicians condemned the meeting and the participation of government ministers.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief of staff and current member of the Knesset and Netanyahu’s War Cabinet, said the meeting would “exacerbate divisions over what brings us together” at a time when Israeli soldiers are “standing side by side battle”. War with unprecedented justification”.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch told Israel Army Radio that the timing of the conference was wrong. “It’s not right to enter into this conversation now,” he said. “We need to focus the discourse on the unity of our troops.”

‘Ethnic cleansing’

The Jewish settlements that have spread throughout the occupied West Bank are classified as illegal through international law and humanitarian groups. They are also often the cause of clashes between armed settlers and Palestinians.

Human rights groups and many governments often condemn armed settler Violence directed against Palestinians.

Israel Expansionist Settlement policy also hinders the desired future of a two-state solution.

“This conference was attended by 12 Israeli ministers, including members of Netanyahu’s Likud party, as well as 15 members of the Israeli Knesset, so it’s not a joke,” said Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian-American activist and researcher, in an interview with AlJazeera.

“These are the people who do politics in Israel and these are the people who have called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, a complete ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza.”

The Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned the conference, saying it reflected the Israeli right’s tendencies to destabilize the region.

“The colonial meeting in Jerusalem represents a blatant challenge to the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and is accompanied by a public call for the forcible expulsion of Palestinians,” the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigration said in a statement, referring to the International Court of Justice ruling last week called on Israel to prevent “genocide” in Gaza.

Arab states meet

The US news site Axios reported on Monday, citing unnamed informed sources, that senior national security officials from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority met secretly in Riyadh to discuss post-war Gaza.

The meeting appeared to call on the Palestinian Authority to revive its political leadership in Gaza, currently led by Hamas. The meeting, which was reportedly briefed to Israel and the United States, highlights growing support among Arab states for a solution in which the relatively moderate Palestinian Authority takes control after a post-war transition period.

Saudi Arabia’s national security adviser said at the meeting that the kingdom remains interested in advancing normalization with Israel in return for steps that would pave the way to a Palestinian state, even if such a state is not established immediately.

Israel’s war against Gaza has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, destroyed swathes of the enclave and displaced nearly 85 percent of the territory’s population, according to local health authorities.

According to Israel, about 1,140 people were killed and militants took about 250 prisoners in the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel. About 100 of them were returned last November under a deal with Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.