"Time has come to declare proudly: Gaza is part of the Land of Israel," the 11 Cabinet members wrote.
Several Israeli Cabinet members, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, urged Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday to authorize a Chanukah flag-raising ceremony in the Gaza Strip.
Chanukah, the eight-day Festival of Lights, begins at sundown on Sunday and concludes at nightfall on Dec. 22. The holiday commemorates the liberation of Jerusalem and the subsequent rededication of the Second Temple by the Maccabees, who led a revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire in 167–141 BCE.
The letter, which was signed by 11 ministers, calls for the Israeli flag to be raised over the former community of Nisanit in the northern Strip, which was evacuated as part of Jerusalem’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. The site is currently an IDF outpost.
