From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 12, 2024
Right-wing activists hold prayers for Tisha B’Av near Gaza border, calling to resettle the Strip
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Right-wing activists gather near the Gaza border to hold prayers for Tisha B’Av and call for the renewal of settlements in the Strip.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi joins the protest and shares a video on social media.
“Tonight, together with the crowds of the House of Israel, on the border of the Gaza Strip, lamenting the past and praying for the future, mourning the destruction and hoping for Jewish settlement in all parts of our homeland,” he writes.
Tisha B’Av is a Jewish fast day that commemorates the Hebrew date on which the two ancient Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, centuries apart.
יידע מי שמתזמן מתקפה נגד ישראל בתשעה באב, שגם המן ניסה לתזמן בשבעה באדר וזה התהפך עליו. תשעה באב הוא גם היום שעל פי המסורת שלנו נולד בו מלך המשיח. הוא גם התחלת הגאולה. אז מי מתנדב להיות ה״המן של תשעה באב״?
הערב, יחד עם המוני בית ישראל, על גבול רצועת עזה, בקינה על העבר ובתפילה… pic.twitter.com/g4weJfp36E
— ????????שלמה קרעי – Shlomo Karhi (@shlomo_karhi) August 12, 2024
Prior to the event, the settler activists said they were planning to hold a traditional reading of the Book of Lamentations near the entrance to the so-called Netzarim Corridor, a road that bisects Gaza and that is under Israeli control, during the ongoing war against Hamas.
One of the organizing groups behind the prayer event, Nahala, which advocates for reestablishing Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, insisted that there was no intention for participants to enter the Palestinian enclave.
The IDF extended its closed military zone around the Gaza border in advance of the event, due to concerns that terrorists may try to attack the gathering, including through possible rocket fire.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.