It takes little to ascertain that the reason for Israel’s genocide in Gaza was colonial expansion. Israel made no secret of it from the start, with talks about forced transfer and attempts to involve the international community in its war crimes. Settlement leaders were also very vocal about resettling in Gaza throughout the genocide and recently ridiculed the EU’s sanctions against Israeli settler leaders and organisations. The latter, unfortunately, is probably well placed ridicule as sanctions without decolonisation will not stop Israel’s colonial expansion, as Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich revealed this week.

Israeli media reported Smotrich stating that there are plans for three Israeli settlements awaiting approval by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During a meeting with the mayor of Sderot Alon Davidi, Smotrich announced, “The Settlement Administration, under my leadership in the Defence Ministry, has completed its staff work, and we are ready to establish three settlements immediately once we receive the green light from the prime minister.”

Smotrich’s colonial........

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