Israel has no intention to resettle the Gaza Strip, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday, in a clarification of remarks earlier in the day that suggested it would do so.
Mr Katz, speaking at a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, had said the military would never leave all of Gaza and planned to station a military unit there that has historically played a role in establishing Israeli communities.
After some Israeli media reported the comment as a plan to resettle Gaza, where Israel dismantled settlements in 2005, Mr Katz issued a statement saying "the government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip".
According to the US-backed peace plan signed by both Israel and the Palestinian militants group Hamas in October, the Israeli military will gradually withdraw completely from the coastal enclave and Israel will not re-establish civilian settlements there.
The plan nevertheless provides for an Israeli "security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat".
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said that Mr Katz's announcement was "a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement" and "completely goes against" US President Donald Trump's peace plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out re-establishing settlements in Gaza throughout the two years of war there, although some far-right members of his government have called for reoccupying the territory.
Mr Katz made his initial comments in the West Bank settlement of Beit El – near the Palestinian Authority's administrative headquarters of Ramallah – where he announced 1,200 housing units would be built.
"When the time comes, in northern Gaza ... we will establish Nahal [military] units instead of the [Israeli] communities that were displaced. We will do so in the right way at the right time," he said.
In his clarification of the remark, Mr Katz said "the reference to the integration of Nahal ... in the northern Gaza Strip was made in a security context only".
His comments came ahead of Mr Netanyahu's meeting with Mr Trump in the US next week, when they are expected to discuss implementing the second phase of the peace plan.
Mr Trump's plan secured a ceasefire in October and the release of the remaining living hostages seized in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led raids into southern Israel.
But there has been little sign of progress towards the other goals. Hamas has so far refused to disarm, as required by the plan, which also foresees the establishment of a transitional authority and the deployment of a multinational force.
Mr Katz, in his comments at Beit El, said: "We are located deep inside Gaza and we will never leave all of Gaza. There will never be such a thing. We are there to protect, to prevent what happened.
"We don't trust anybody else to protect our citizens," he said, pointing to what he said was a need to also be in Lebanon and Syria.
Israeli settlement building in the West Bank - part of the territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state - has accelerated under Mr Netanyahu.
The settlements are widely considered to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
Speaking about the West Bank, Mr Katz said: "Netanyahu's government is a settlements government ... it strives for action. If we can get sovereignty, we will bring about sovereignty.
"We are in the practical sovereignty era. There are opportunities here that haven't been here for a long time."
With reporting from Reuters
