Israeli ministers have announced plans to expand settlement activity in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition faces elections on 27 October. The moves include new “Nahal” outposts in northern Gaza and funding for additional Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Election campaign and push to expand control
Defence Minister Israel Katz and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich outlined steps to increase settlement presence before the end of the current government’s mandate, according to Israeli reporting. The announcements come as the coalition seeks to entrench control of land in occupied Palestine while Palestinians face displacement pressures.
Katz calls for three Nahal outposts in Gaza
Katz said he intended to establish three “Nahal” outposts in northern Gaza. Nahal communities have historically been used as an initial stage for later Israeli civilian settlements, according to land-grab monitoring groups.
The defence minister presented the Gaza plans during a visit to Israeli-controlled parts of the territory, telling Channel 14 that the outposts were to be set up in places that had previously been Israeli settlements.
Smotrich announces funding for West Bank construction
Smotrich said the cabinet allocated 1.3bn shekels (about £318m) to finance dozens of new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israeli media reported the decision was kept secret when it was approved last month due to expectations of US opposition.
Military chief praises extremist “security partners”
Maj Gen Avi Bluth, who commands Israeli forces in the West Bank, told residents of extremist outposts that he “appreciates their work” and described them as partners in security with the military. Bluth spoke at a meeting of the Farms Association, a group representing settlements that are considered illegal even under Israeli law.
Critics said such outposts play a role in campaigns that they link to violence and the displacement of Palestinians across the West Bank.
UN rights office and activists warn of violence and impunity
The UN human rights office for Palestine said in a report published this week that settlers were used to lead annexation efforts and that systematic impunity has helped violence continue.
Hagit Ofran of Peace Now said bulldozers were working on at least seven settlements that she said could be populated before polling day. She described the government’s approach as a “reckless pre-election sprint” aimed at creating “facts on the ground”.
Dozens of figures from Israel’s political and military elite, including former prime ministers and former heads of security services, have threatened legal action over support for “Jewish terrorism” in the West Bank, according to the report.
Control of Gaza and casualty figures under scrutiny
Katz also highlighted the scale of Israeli control in Gaza, where Maj Gen Tamir Yadai, Israel’s deputy chief of staff, said Israel now controls 65% of the strip. Yadai’s assessment was described as exceeding the 53% figure agreed under a ceasefire brokered last year by US President Donald Trump.
The officials’ account places about 2 million Palestinians in the remaining third of Gaza’s territory. Yadai said Israel had “killed over 70,000 terrorists”, framing the situation as “victory”.
On casualties, Israel’s military has said a database of Gaza’s war dead compiled by Palestinian health authorities is broadly accurate. It contains more than 73,000 named people, including more than 21,000 children, more than 10,000 women under 60 and more than 5,000 elderly people. When asked whether women, children and elderly people were counted as “terrorists”, the Israeli military declined to comment directly. A military spokesperson said the IDF was still assessing and categorising casualties, adding the work had not been completed or briefed to civilian officials. The spokesperson also declined to comment on Bluth’s backing for settler militants, saying settlement decisions were political.
Nahal outposts framed as a “first phase”
Dror Etkes, founder of Kerem Navot, said Nahal outposts were not intended for long-term military use and that they function as a first phase preparing sites for future settlement. He said the model was first applied in the 1950s in border regions, including around the Gaza Strip, before being used in the occupied West Bank after 1967, initially along the Jordan valley and then in other areas.
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19 July 2026
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