‘Occupy, expel, settle’: Large ultranationalist rally next week to urge Israeli takeover of Gaza

A large right-wing, ultranationalist demonstration is being planned for next week in Jerusalem to call for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and for the construction of Jewish settlements in the territory.

A flier for a Jerusalem demonstration organized by the Nachala settlements group calling for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the establishment of Jewish settlements in the territory, February 2025. (Courtesy Nachala)

Titled “Occupation, expulsion and settlement,” the February 27 demonstration is being organized by the Nachala settlement group and other right-wing organizations.

According to Nachala, an “operations room” has been established to coordinate organizational activities for the demonstration, including making large numbers of telephone calls to drum up support for the event.

Some 16,000 fliers have already been distributed, Nachala says, with teams of volunteers posting them around the country, while over 50 “transportation coordinators” are working on getting people to the demonstration, the group adds.

“Ahead of the end of the [hostage and ceasefire] deal and the renewal of fighting, the organizers are emphasizing: this time will be decisive — no to stopping the war, occupy, expel, settle.”

Ultranationalist groups began calling for rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza not long after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion and atrocities and the subsequent war, with some cabinet ministers endorsing a policy of “encouraging voluntary emigration” at a Nachala conference in January last year.

But explicit calls for the “expulsion” of Gazans by such groups have only become a prominent feature of their agenda following US President Donald Trump’s insistence that the entire Palestinian population of the territory be permanently resettled outside of Gaza.