Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the return of settlers to the Gaza Strip after the war and said its Palestinian population should be encouraged to emigrate. “To have security we must control the territory,” Mr Smotrich told Israel’s Army Radio in response to a question about the prospect of re-establishing settlements in Gaza. “In order to control the territory militarily for a long time, we need a civilian presence,” he reiterated.
