Katz announces Gaza settlements, then backtracks. Israel extends law that shut down al Jazeera

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel intends to establish communities in northern Gaza "when the time is right", in the settlement sites evacuated with the 2005 disengagement. Katz cited the Garinei Nahal, a military programme in which groups of young people enlist together and then form civilian communities, adding that Israel is "deep in Gaza" and will "never leave it completely" because the presence would serve to defend and prevent a repeat of what happened on 7 October 2023. His words, spoken in Beit El during an event related to the construction of another 1,200 homes in the West Bank settlement, triggered controversy and discontent. Afterwards, however, the minister's office clarified in English and Hebrew that the government "has no intention of establishing settlements" in the Gaza Strip and that any presence would be"only for security reasons".

According to the news site Ynet, the clarification also came after requests from the United States, which did not like the scope of the statements. Katz thus traced the announcement to a "security context", downplaying the hypothesis of new civilian settlements in the Palestinian enclave. The political message remains, however: Israel, in the words of the minister, does not envisage a total withdrawal from Gaza. An approach that comes into tension with a US plan on the future of the territory.

On the same day, 23 December 2025, the Israeli parliament announced the approval of an amendment allowing the authorities to extend until the end of 2027 the broadcasting ban on foreign media accused of undermining national security. The rule had been adopted in April 2024, during the war between Israel and Hamas, and is described as directed mainly against the Qatari channel al Jazeera, defined by the authorities as a 'propaganda organ' of the Palestinian Islamist movement. The channel, closed by the authorities, was accused of having 'actively participated' in the 7 October attack. Initially, the law was limited to the duration of the state of emergency declared at the beginning of the conflict.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has condemned Israel's plans to build 19 new settlements in the West Bank, arguing that the move strengthens its control over Palestinian territory. In a note, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the decision 'a dangerous step' aimed at consolidating 'colonial control' over the entire Palestinian territory. The same note speaks of the continuation of 'apartheid, settlement and annexation policies' that, according to the PNA, would undermine the 'inalienable rights of the Palestinian people'.

On the diplomatic front, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese invited Israeli President Isaac Herzog to visit Australia and the country's Jewish community. The Israeli presidency reported that Herzog had informed Albanese that he accepted the invitation. The telephone conversation, which took place at the initiative of the Australian Prime Minister, was marked by the 'profound shock and dismay' over last week's deadly attack at a Hanukkah event in Sydney and the 'deep condolences' conveyed to the families of the victims. Herzog stressed "the importance of taking all legal measures" to counter the rise of anti-Semitism, extremism and jihadist terrorism.