Daniella Weiss, leader of settler organisation Nachala, described the event as ‘the beginning of a political era’ [Photo by Enes Canli/Anadolu via Getty Images]
Hundreds of far-right Israeli settlers, including ministers, gathered on the Gaza border this week to press for the construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian enclave, amid fears of a permanent occupation of the territory.
The two-day event, held on 20-21 October under the slogan “Gaza is Ours, Forever”, Jewish extremists meet in a closed military zone near the settlement of Be’eri, at the Gaza border, to call for the return of Israeli settlers to the Palestinian territory, which Israel evacuated in 2005.
Entitled “Preparing to resettle Gaza”, the event was organised by the far-right settler group Nachala, with its leader Daniella Weiss – who was sanctioned by Canada for involvement in extremist settler activities in the occupied West Bank – one of the event’s main speakers.
Israel’s settler movement has expanded its occupation posts across the West Bank, with the help of the government, as part of a longstanding policy deemed illegal under international law.
Following the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which killed 42,718 Palestinians and caused the mass displacement of around two million, the far-right Israeli settler movement has looked on the human tragedy as an opportunity to re-establish settlements in the territory, following their removal by Ariel Sharon’s government in 2005.
Wiess said she had envisaged Israel as having new borders into what was known as “Greater Israel”, extending from the Nile to the Euphrates River.
In comments made to Channel 4 News, Wiess said that it was “not a moment, it’s the beginning of a political era”.
Among the hundreds of settlers in attendance were members of the Israeli government, including far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
During his speech at the conference, Ben-Gvir called for the expulsion of Gaza’s Palestinian population to other countries.
“We will encourage the voluntary transfer of all Gazan citizens,” he was quoted by Haaretz as saying, adding “We will offer them the opportunity to move to other countries because that land belongs to us.”
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party Likud were also present, including cabinet member May Golan, who threatened another Nakba against anyone who planned “another Holocaust” against Israel.
Numerous other ministers and Knesset members from the coalition government were also at the event.
A small counter-demonstration stood outside the event, guarded by Israeli police, and chanted on megaphones.
Yehuda Cohen, a prominent protester and father of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, accused the “Messianic political parties” of using his son’s situation in Gaza to forward their settlement agenda.
