Arabic version: وزراء إسرائيليون يشاركون في مسيرة تطالب بإعادة المستوطنات في غزة

According to Al Jazeera, Israeli cabinet members and parliamentarians joined a march towards Gaza calling for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in the besieged Palestinian territory. The event was organised by the settler group Nachala, which called it the “March of Thousands”.

The march went ahead after the Israeli army declared the surrounding area a closed military zone for 24 hours. The army said the restriction was intended to prevent participants from crossing into Gaza. Nachala said more than 10,000 people attended, while Israeli media estimates put the crowd at a few hundred. Some marchers bypassed checkpoints through nearby hillsides, and video verified by Al Jazeera showed dozens gathered at the border fence.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and more than two dozen ministers and legislators were reported to have attended. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party was listed among the rally’s sponsors, despite Netanyahu’s insistence that Gaza will not be resettled.

Marchers used the banner “returning home after 21 years” and demanded the reconstruction of Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit, settlements evacuated when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Ben-Gvir posted a video from the march captioned “Gaza is ours”, while Smotrich urged Israelis not to miss what he called a “historic opportunity” to rebuild settlements. In December, Nachala activists briefly crossed into Gaza and planted an Israeli flag before soldiers returned them across the fence.