Hundreds of Israelis attempted to cross into the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening during a rally in support of Jewish resettlement of the enclave, with some entering the buffer zone, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The attempt to breach the border fence took place during an event organized by the Nachala Settlement Movement, which works to develop Israeli outposts in Judea and Samaria and has recently promoted plans to resettle Gaza’s former Jewish communities.
The protest, held under the slogan “We will not surrender to Trump’s dictates: No to an international Gaza, yes to a Jewish Gaza,” saw some 1,500 activists march toward the Strip with the goal of planting trees.
“During the past few hours, hundreds of Israeli civilians have attempted to approach the fence in an area designated as a closed military zone and prohibited to civilian entry,” the IDF said.
“Several civilians crossed into the buffer zone separating the territory of the State of Israel from the Gaza Strip,” it stated, adding that “IDF troops dispatched to the scene detained the civilians and returned them safely.
“The civilians were transferred into Israel Police custody,” the army said.
The IDF stressed that approaching the border remains “dangerous and disrupts security forces’ activities.” It also condemned “activities that diverts the attention of commanders and soldiers from defensive missions and thwarting terrorism.”
The Nachala Movement wrote in a Facebook post that “large groups marched from multiple points along the Gaza border with the aim of converging for tree-planting in the area of the community of Nisanit” in the northern tip of the Strip, which was uprooted as part of the 2005 disengagement.
“Gaza belongs exclusively to the people of Israel!” the post concluded.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Jan. 19 called for Jerusalem to “storm Gaza” and rebuild Jewish communities there, warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to shy away from the move.
“It’s either us or them—full Israeli control, the destruction of Hamas and permanent Israeli settlement,” the Religious Zionism Party leader said.
Smotrich attacked U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposals for Gaza, calling the plans “bad for the State of Israel” and urging their reversal.
In May 2024, Netanyahu ruled out plans for civilians to return to Gaza.
“If you mean resettling Gaza …, it was never in the cards, and I said so openly,” he stated in an interview with CNN.
“Some of my constituents are not happy about it, but that’s my position,” he added.
