'Gaza is ours,' says Ben Gvir as he joins Israeli ministers in march demanding return of settlements

Israel's far-right cabinet minister Ben Gvir declared that there will be Jewish settlements in all of Gaza as he joined other parliamentarians to march towards the Palestinian coastal enclave. The march took place on Sunday, and according to Al Jazeera, it defied a military order that restricted their route at the last minute.

The Israeli authorities obstructed the ministers over concerns that some participants planned to cross the fence into the besieged Palestinian territory. The rally is now being seen as the latest sign of how calls to resettle Gaza have moved from the political margins into Israel’s mainstream political discourse.

Interestingly, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party was listed among the rally sponsors despite his frequent declaration that Gaza will not be resettled. Earlier in the day, the Israeli army designated the surrounding area a closed military zone for 24 hours, saying it was meant to stop marchers from crossing into Gaza.

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Nachala, the settler group behind the event, said that more than 10,000 people attended the "March for Thousands event. However, the Israeli media reported that the crowd was only a few hundred. It is pertinent to note that Nachala is led by Daniella Weiss, who has long advocated Israel resettling Gaza. Speaking at a Likud party conference, she said Palestinians would “disappear” from the territory.

'Gaza is ours': Ben Gvir

Also on the march were Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlement affairs, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and more than two dozen ministers and legislators, Israeli media reported. Gvir went ahead and posted a video of himself taking part in the march with the caption "Gaza is ours".

Fellow cabinet minister Smotrich also called on Israelis not to miss a "historic opportunity" to rebuild settlements in Gaza. It is pertinent to note that both Israeli politicians have been sanctioned by several European nations. According to Al Jazeera, some marchers bypassed checkpoints through nearby hillsides to reach the Gaza border.

Marching under the banner “returning home after 21 years,” the Israelis demanded the reconstruction of Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit, three settlements evacuated when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Meanwhile, Palestinian lawyer and analyst Diana Buttu told Al Jazeera that Israel’s settlement drive has been enabled by a lack of accountability.

“Because Israel has never been punished for its crimes, it’s only natural that a country that commits genocide and ethnic cleansing feels emboldened to steal more land”, she said. It is pertinent to note that in December last year, a group of Nachala activists briefly crossed into Gaza and planted an Israeli flag before soldiers brought them back across the fence.