Smotrich Gets 22 New West Bank Settlements in Exchange for Netanyahu’s Sham Gaza Aid Deal
Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich secured a major settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank in exchange for allowing five humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza, according to Israeli Maariv.
The deal includes approval for 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank and hundreds of new settlement units in previously unofficial settler outposts. These expansions will be funded in part by the Ministry of Settlements, led by Orit Strook.
The decision came as international pressure mounted on Israel to allow basic humanitarian aid into Gaza. The United Nations says at least 500 trucks of aid are needed daily to prevent mass famine among Gaza’s 2.3 million people. Yet Israel has only permitted five trucks, which Israel then blocked from distribution inside Gaza. No aid has reached civilians so far.
Less than a month ago, Smotrich vowed to quit the government if any aid entered Gaza. He told Makor Rishon: “If a single grain of humanitarian aid reaches Hamas, I will leave the cabinet. I told the Prime Minister, I do not agree. Over my dead body.”
However, in a surprising reversal, Smotrich publicly supported the aid entry during a press conference this week, calling it a “necessary step to win the war and defeat Hamas.”
Inside sources revealed that this shift followed a private agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu. In return for Smotrich’s support, Netanyahu approved massive settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli security cabinet reportedly greenlit the project on the same day it approved the entry of the five aid trucks.
Israeli Channel 14 reported that the 22 new settlements are part of Smotrich’s demand and are now moving forward with official backing.
A senior political figure who attended the cabinet meeting said Smotrich’s support for the aid “shocked many in the room,” given his recent hardline stance. Both Smotrich’s office and the Prime Minister’s Office denied any connection between the settlements and the aid decision, calling the reports “unrelated.”
Meanwhile, the aid deal itself has failed. The five trucks allowed in were never delivered to Gaza residents. No agency was permitted to receive them. Despite the announcement, no real humanitarian relief has entered the Strip.
The deal had been brokered under heavy US pressure, particularly from Trump’s Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff, who urged Netanyahu to allow aid after the release of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander from imprisonment. Netanyahu delayed the aid and eventually broke the promise, embarrassing the Trump administration.
Humanitarian groups and UN officials continue to warn of a looming mass famine in Gaza. Yet the Israeli government appears to have used the crisis as leverage to secure illegal land grabs in the occupied West Bank.
