‘We’ll settle all over’: Far-right activists cross into Gaza, are caught by IDF
Civilians handed over to police for questioning; while attending rally near the border, Likud MK declares ‘Israel’s rebirth will come… when Jewish communities thrive in Gaza’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A group of settler activists who crossed the border into the Gaza Strip on Thursday were caught by Israeli troops and returned to Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said the civilians were stopped in the military’s buffer zone inside the Strip, before being brought back to Israel and handed over to the police for further questioning.
The incident came as hundreds of activists from the ultra-nationalist Nachala settlement organization staged a protest on the Gaza border, which the army has declared a closed military zone.
Nachala said some of its activists crossed the border into Gaza to plant trees, as part of its attempts to reestablish settlements that were fully evacuated during Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Strip in 2005.
On social media, the group published a short clip, set to rousing music, from outside the Gaza border fence, in which a man can be heard yelling from a white pick-up truck outside the Gaza border fence, “We planted a tree in Gaza,” to the applause of people off-camera.
“God willing, we’ll settle all over Gaza,” an activist declares.
שתלנו עצים בעזה, בעזרת השם נתיישב בכל חבל עזה!
צפו: אחת הקבוצות שנכנסה ושתלה עצים בתוך חבל עזה!???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/FNpawKQi7E
— נחלה – תנועה להתיישבות ???? (@T_Nachala) February 5, 2026
The IDF said troops and police officers were deployed to the border and working to prevent the protesters from crossing the fence.
“Approaching the barrier area and entering it is dangerous and disrupts the activity of security forces in the area,” the military said, adding that it “condemns any activity that diverts the attention of commanders and combat soldiers from defense and counter-terrorism missions.” The Israeli side of the Gaza border barrier is currently unprotected in some areas, as the IDF is widely deployed deeper within the Strip.
Nachala said about 1,500 people took part in its demonstration, including IDF reservists, relatives of people killed or abducted during the war in Gaza, and at least two coalition lawmakers.
In a video Nachala published from the demonstration, MK Ariel Kallner, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, said: “The nation of Israel’s rebirth will come when an Israel flag flies over Gaza — when Jewish communities thrive in Gaza. That will be the absolute victory over absolute evil.”
כ-1,500 איש צועדים לעזה עם שתילים ודגלי ישראל ????
משפחות שכולות, משפחות חטופים, פצועי מלחמה ולוחמי מילואים ביחד עם ציבור גדול צועדים ממספר נקודות לאורך הגדר של עזה במטרה להתאחד לנטיעות בשטח היישוב ניסנית ????????הציבור הגדול והנחוש שזורם לכאן מכל עבר מבין דבר פשוט: עזה שייכת אך ורק… pic.twitter.com/vPbAmoPi4E
— נחלה – תנועה להתיישבות ???? (@T_Nachala) February 5, 2026
Netanyahu has repeatedly said during the war that Israel has no intention of reestablishing settlements inside Gaza, but a number of coalition members have consistently called to do so.
Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza, Israeli civilians have on several occasions attempted to enter the Strip — often pro-settlement activists seeking to reclaim the settlements that Israel dismantled under the 2005 Disengagement Plan.
Under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, Israeli troops would eventually completely withdraw from Gaza with the deployment of an International Stabilization Force that is supposed to disarm Hamas.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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