Why Israelis Are Marching to the Gaza Border Over Settlement Demands
ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER — Thousands of Israelis, including settlers and right-wing activists, marched toward the border with Gaza on Sunday, calling on the government to re-establish Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, an AFP journalist reported.
The demonstrators gathered near the border before walking in large numbers toward the fence overlooking northern Gaza, where Israeli security forces deployed to prevent participants from advancing further. Footage showed marchers waving Israeli flags as soldiers and police blocked access to the restricted area.
“We are walking today to tell the government of Israel and show all the world that this land belongs to us and that Gaza really belongs to us and that we want to go back there,” said participant Daniel Sellem. He noted that Israelis had lived in Gaza before the 2005 disengagement, when all settlements were evacuated.
Yechiel Greenblum, another participant, described the march as “just the beginning” of a campaign to restore Israeli communities in the coastal territory, arguing there was “no reason” Jews could not return to settle northern Gaza.
Previous marches have likewise sought to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to re-establish settlements in Gaza, much of which has been rendered uninhabitable by more than two years of war. Israeli forces currently control more than 60 percent of the territory, where daily violence continues despite a ceasefire with Hamas.
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