Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has refused to rule out renewed Jewish settlement in Gaza and also indicated that the option of “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza was still on the table.His comments came after far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel had prepared plans to establish three settlements in the Gaza Strip, and all that was needed to move ahead with the project was Netanyahu’s green light.“We need to complete the conquest of the remaining area, defeat Hamas and establish a belt of Jewish settlements that will serve as a security buffer for the Gaza border communities,” he said. “Where there is no settlement, there is no security. We are not going back to the reality of before October 7th,” he added, referring to the date of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in 2023.Some 8,000 Jewish settlers lived in Gaza before they were forcibly removed under the 2005 disengagement, when Israel withdrew from the enclave. Calls by right-wing activists to renew settlements following the 2023 Hamas attack have been condemned by the international community.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has recently warned that Hamas is actively re-establishing control across Gaza and preparing for a renewed war.Despite the ceasefire signed in October 2025, there are daily clashes in Gaza between the IDF and Palestinian militants as Israel continues to expand its area of control in the enclave.A car destroyed by Israeli air strikes last week in Gaza City. Local authorities say a girl was killed and five others were wounded after the strike. Photograph: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images When the ceasefire agreement was signed, 53 per cent of the enclave was under Israeli control. Since then, Israel has been steadily relocating the yellow line concrete barriers, often resulting in the displacement of local residents.Last week, the UN estimated that the IDF controlled about 65 per cent of Gaza and at a recent news conference Netanyahu put the figure at 70 per cent.The United Nations issued a warning that the continued expansion of territory controlled by Israeli forces in Gaza was “intensifying risks to civilians and further constraining humanitarian efforts”.Since the October 2025 ceasefire the UN has verified the killing of 196 Palestinians in attacks near Israeli troops, with many killed while moving through areas lacking clear demarcation on the ground.“Humanitarian access remains severely constrained due to restrictions on movement which results in delays or pauses in life-saving activities. Most Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced multiple times and are now concentrated in increasingly limited areas, living amid insecurity and violence,” the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said in a statement.“Access to essential services is already strained and this situation is further compounded by the continued expansion and shifting of deployment lines.”