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🇫🇷 France /Conflict & Security

'This Land Belongs to Us': Israelis March to Gaza Border Demanding Settlement Re-establishment

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Thousands of Israelis marched towards the Gaza border, demanding the re-establishment of settlements in the Palestinian territory.
  • Participants waved Israeli flags and called for the government to allow their return to Gaza, from which they were expelled in 2005.
  • Security forces deployed to prevent protesters from reaching the border fence, as organizers frame the march as the beginning of a campaign to reinstate Israeli communities in Gaza.

Thousands of Israelis, including settlers and right-wing activists, marched towards the Gaza border on Sunday, urging the government to re-establish settlements in the war-devastated Palestinian territory. The demonstration occurred near the border fence overlooking northern Gaza, where Israeli security forces were deployed to block the protesters' advance.

We are marching today to tell the Israeli government and show the whole world that this land belongs to us, that Gaza truly belongs to us, and that we want to return there.

— Daniel SellemA participant in the march expressed the protesters' desire to re-establish Israeli settlements in Gaza.

Participants waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans, with one marcher, Daniel Sellem, stating, "We are marching today to tell the Israeli government and show the whole world that this land belongs to us, that Gaza truly belongs to us, and that we want to return there."

Sellem, who previously lived in Gaza before the Israeli withdrawal in 2005, expressed hope that the government would permit a return to the territory. "I am very hopeful that this will work and that we will return to live there as soon as possible," he said.

I am very hopeful that this will work and that we will return to live there as soon as possible.

— Daniel SellemDaniel Sellem voiced optimism about the possibility of returning to live in Gaza.

Another participant, Yechiel Greenblum, described the march as the start of a campaign to bring Israeli communities back to Gaza. He asserted that Jews have lived in the area for centuries and that the 2005 withdrawal was only temporary. Greenblum believes there are no obstacles preventing Jews from resettling in northern Gaza, emphasizing that this march is merely the initial phase of a broader effort.

We are organizing a big march back to the Gaza Strip, where Jews have lived for hundreds, even thousands of years.

— Yechiel GreenblumYechiel Greenblum described the march as the beginning of a movement to resettle Gaza.

This is not the first time groups of Israelis have marched toward the Gaza border to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which is considered one of the most right-wing in the country's history, to reinstate settlements in the territory.

We organize a big march of return to the Gaza Strip, where Jews have lived for hundreds, even thousands of years.

— Yechiel GreenblumYechiel Greenblum framed the march as a return to ancestral lands.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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