Israeli cabinet ministers join Gaza march demanding return of settlements evacuated in 2005
According to Al Jazeera, Israeli cabinet members and parliamentarians joined a march towards Gaza on Sunday to call for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory, defying a last-minute military order that restricted their route over concerns that some participants planned to cross the border fence (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/israeli-ministers-join-march-to-gaza-to-demand-return-of-settlements).
By Source Reporters Newsdesk
Mon, 20 July 2026 · 1 min read
According to Al Jazeera, Israeli cabinet members and parliamentarians joined a march towards Gaza on Sunday to call for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory, defying a last-minute military order that restricted their route over concerns that some participants planned to cross the border fence (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/israeli-ministers-join-march-to-gaza-to-demand-return-of-settlements).
According to Al Jazeera, the rally was sponsored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party even as Netanyahu has insisted Gaza will not be resettled, in what the outlet described as the latest sign that calls to resettle Gaza have moved from the political margins into Israel's mainstream discourse (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/israeli-ministers-join-march-to-gaza-to-demand-return-of-settlements).
According to Al Jazeera, those marching included Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlement affairs, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — both sanctioned by several European countries — as well as more than two dozen ministers and legislators (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/israeli-ministers-join-march-to-gaza-to-demand-return-of-settlements).
According to Al Jazeera, the settler group Nachala, which organised the event under the banner "returning home after 21 years," said more than 10,000 attended, although Israeli media estimated the crowd at only a few hundred; some marchers bypassed checkpoints through nearby hillsides to reach the Gaza border fence (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/israeli-ministers-join-march-to-gaza-to-demand-return-of-settlements).
According to Al Jazeera, Palestinian analyst Diana Buttu said Israel's settlement drive had been enabled by a lack of accountability, while the march demanded reconstruction of Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit, three settlements evacuated when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/israeli-ministers-join-march-to-gaza-to-demand-return-of-settlements).
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