Israelis breach Gaza boundary in march calling for settlements

A group of Israelis breached the Gaza boundary on Thursday during a march by hundreds of people calling for settlements in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

The military said it returned the group to Israel shortly after they entered the so-called buffer zone established by the army inside the Gaza Strip.

"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 military said, condemning the breach. 

"Approaching the barrier area and entering it is dangerous and disrupts the activity of security forces in the area," it added.

The breach occurred as hundreds of Israeli activists marched towards the Gaza Strip, calling for the construction of settlements there.

The rally was organised by the Nachala Settlement Movement, a settler group known for establishing outposts in the occupied West Bank.

In recent months, the group has also outlined plans to establish settlements in Gaza, saying in December that more than 1,000 families were “ready to actually settle” there. 

All Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal under international law.

Israeli media reported that about 1,500 demonstrators took part in Thursday’s march under the slogan: “We will not surrender to Trump’s dictates: no to an international Gaza, yes to a Jewish Gaza.”

Establishing Israeli settlements in Gaza would conflict with US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which envisaged a near-total Israeli withdrawal.

Hundreds of Israeli settlers, with children and babies, marched toward the Gaza border demanding permanent settlement, openly framing it as a “security-first” future. pic.twitter.com/abstoxkwvL

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) February 6, 2026

The event also included plans to plant trees, with a WhatsApp message circulated among members calling for participation in a “historic planting event in Gaza”.

Organisers posted that “police tried to prevent us from reaching the fence, but the general public was determined and managed to reach it for the planting. Some even managed to climb onto the fence.”

Footage shared online showed Israelis, including children, marching towards Gaza.

Escalating settlement construction

Several ministers and lawmakers, including members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, attended and expressed support for the event.

Officials backing the rally included May Golan, the social equality and women’s empowerment minister, Shlomo Karhi, the communications minister, and the lawmakers Osher Shkalim, Amit Halevi and Tally Gottlieb.

Likud member Ariel Kallner addressed the gathering, saying Israel’s “resurrection will come when the Israeli flag is raised in Gaza, when Jewish settlements bloom in Gaza. That will be the total victory against absolute evil.”

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Far-right Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech was also present with settler leader Danielle Weiss at the planting event. 

During the rally, Weiss said that “the day is not far off when [Palestinians] will leave”. She pledged to establish settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Calls to re-establish settlements in Gaza come amid renewed demands to maintain Israel’s military occupation in the territory.

In January, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said it's "either us or them", and called to "correct the sin of expulsion" from Gaza.

Israel previously built 21 settlements in Gaza before withdrawing its military from the territory in 2005.

There are currently around 250 settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, housing approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers.