Hundreds of activists gather at Gaza border for conference on reestablishing settlements in Strip

Hundreds of right-wing and ultranationalist activists, overwhelmingly from the Religious Zionist community, descend on an encampment in the Gaza border region for a conference on how to reestablish Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Workshops on how to build settlements from scratch, especially without formal government permission, are being conducted at the site, which faces the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza where organizers hope to establish one of the first new Jewish settlements in the war-torn territory.

The Likud Party, together with the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties have all built sukkas at the site to host participants, while various musical artists will be playing during a “Simchat Beit Shoeva” celebration taking place at the site as part of the conference.

Numerous cabinet ministers and MKs, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are scheduled to attend and address the conference, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party will be represented by 10 out of its 32 MKs, and at least one minister, Social Equality and Advancement of the Status of Women Minister May Golan.

Far-right activist Daniela Weiss of the Nachala movement that organized the event told Zman Israel that the first Israeli settlement will be built in Gaza by the end of 2024.

“We are going for a temporary site where 40 families will live. We have several options in terms of location,” she claimed. “We will discuss it with the ministers who come here. By the end of the year it will become a permanent settlement within the Gaza Strip.”

The Nachala Settlement Movement organization advocates for Jewish settlement in the West Bank, where it has helped establish illegal settlement outposts.

The initial announcement for today’s event said it would also include a tour of Kibbutz Nirim, however the kibbutz said it had not been informed and it would not go ahead.

Shalom Yerushalmi contributed to this report.