JERUSALEM: “A house on the beach is not a dream!” The advertising slogan by a Zionist settlement developer is music to the ears of former Gaza settlers yearning to return to the Palestinian territory after the war. Nearly two decades after Zionist settlers pulled out of Gaza, the real estate developer Harey Zahav sparked controversy when it posted the slogan on social media in mid-December as the Zionist entity wages a military offensive against the territory’s Hamas rulers.

“This campaign expresses a desire to return (to Gaza) but we have no projects in development,” said Zeev Epstein, the owner of the company, which is notorious for constructing wildcat settler outposts in the occupied West Bank without Zionist government authorization. All settlements on occupied Palestinian land are regarded as illegal under international law, regardless of whether they were approved by the Zionist entity.

Epstein made the comment to Zionist Channel 13 television as pro-Palestine supporters expressed outrage over what they saw as a proposal to build beachfront homes over the bombed-out ruins of Gaza.

The Zionist entity unilaterally withdrew the last of its troops and 8,000 settlers on Sept 11, 2005, ending its presence in Gaza, which began in 1967, but maintaining near complete control over the territory’s borders. Despite its withdrawal, the Zionist entity imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the territory and is still regarded internationally as an occupying power in the Gaza Strip.

Far-right Zionist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this week called for the return of Jewish settlers to the Gaza Strip after the war and said its Palestinian population should be encouraged to emigrate. Coalition lawmaker Zvika Foghel told public radio last month that the entity must “take control over the territory north of the Gaza River and establish new Jewish settlement”.

‘Paradise’

For Hannah Picard, a 66-year-old French-Zionist who lived for 16 years in the heart of the Gaza Strip, “it’s obvious that we are going to go back”. The ongoing war in Gaza, she said, was a prelude to her return.

“Deep down, we dream of going back, because it’s our home,” Picard said in an interview in her three-bedroom apartment in Jerusalem, which she described as her “temporary home”. Her former seaside home in central Gaza, she said, was akin to “living in paradise”.

The Zionist entity’s relentless ground and air military campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 22,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry. The entity claims the bombardment is aimed at destroying Hamas after the Palestinian resistance group launched an attack on southern Zionist communities and military bases on Oct 7. Around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, died in the attack and subsequent Zionist military operation aimed at regaining control of communities targeted by Hamas.

‘Govern Gaza’

Oded Mizrahi, who works at Jerusalem’s Gush Katif Museum — named after a bloc of Zionist settlements in the Gaza Strip — was convinced that returning to the territory would soon be possible. “We don’t know exactly how but ... everyone understands that Hamas cannot stay there,” he told AFP. “We have no other choice but to govern” Gaza, he said.

While the Zionist authorities have not talked about the future of Gaza clearly, the United States insists it would be up to the Palestinians to decide. “We do not believe that it makes sense for (the Zionist entity), or is right for (the entity), to occupy Gaza, reoccupy Gaza over the long term,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told journalists on a recent visit to the Zionist entity. “Ultimately the control of Gaza, the administration of Gaza and the security of Gaza has to transition to the Palestinians.”

Displayed at the Gush Katif museum were photos, maps and souvenirs from the destroyed Zionist settlements in Gaza such as little bottles filled with sand from Gush Katif as well as books on Jewish history in the strip. T-shirts emblazoned with the words “We are going home” were on sale for 35 shekels ($10). “People want to learn this story,” Mizrahi said. “It’s in the news.”