Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the return of Jewish settlers to the Gaza Strip after the fighting and said its Palestinian population should be encouraged to emigrate, AFP reports.

“To have security we must control the territory,” 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 said.