Settler activists enter Gaza, plant Israeli flag before being escorted back by troops

Several settler activists cross into the Gaza Strip, taking pictures of themselves planting an Israeli flag in the ground before they were taken back into Israel by IDF forces.

According to the far-right activists, who are part of a settlement cadre organized by the Nachala settlement movement, they took the pictures at the site of the old Kfar Darom kibbutz settlement in the central Gaza Strip. Much of what was formerly Kfar Darom would be beyond the Yellow Line of IDF deployment at present.

The pictures show several civilian Israeli vehicles at the site, indicating that the activists entered Gaza by car.

The IDF says in response that “several Israeli civilians crossed the border from Israeli territory to the Gaza Strip,” adding that the civilians “were under permanent observation by IDF surveillance troops” and that IDF forces in the area went to the site and returned the civilians to Israeli territory.

עם הוידאו "עם ישראל בתוך עזה" https://t.co/Q8fXMO4Uzs pic.twitter.com/PSfKxIE1Up

— إليشع بن كيمون. Elisha Ben Kimon. אלישע בן קימון (@elishabenkimon) December 18, 2025

The IDF adds that several dozen other Israeli civilians tried to cross the fence between Israel and Gaza at another point but that IDF forces and police prevented them from entering the territory.

“The IDF emphasizes that any entry into the combat zone is prohibited, endangers civilians and interferes with the activities of IDF forces in the area,” the military says.

“Two years after the [Oct. 7] massacre and the war that broke out in its wake, this is a clear message: Gaza belongs to the Israeli people alone and will not be handed over to the Americans or any other foreign entity,” the Nachala movement says of the incident.

“Just like the Maccabees, the People of Israel chose independence and action rather than capitulation,” the organization adds.