Israeli troops detain activists, including MK, after unauthorized entry into Gaza

Participants were affiliated with the Nachala movement, which advocates renewed Jewish presence in Gaza.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli security forces intervened Thursday evening after a group of Israeli civilians, including Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech, crossed into the Gaza Strip without authorization, prompting the Israel Defense Forces to deploy troops and remove them from the area.

The IDF said forces operating along the border identified the group shortly after it entered Gaza and monitored the movement throughout the incident.

Soldiers later detained the civilians, escorted them back into Israeli territory, and transferred them to police custody for questioning.

In a statement issued Friday, the military said the crossing endangered both the civilians involved and the soldiers operating in the area.

“The IDF strongly condemns the civilians’ crossing into the Gaza Strip, which endangers both the civilians and the IDF troops operating in the area,” the statement said.

The army added that the group was under “continuous surveillance” during the incident.

Participants were affiliated with the Nachala movement, which advocates renewed Jewish presence in Gaza.

Nachala said the group entered the Strip using vehicles and planted trees at the site.

The organization described the action as part of preparations for what it called a planned “giant march” in Gaza during the Passover holiday.

Son Har-Melech, a lawmaker from the Otzma Yehudit party, publicly acknowledged her participation in the entry.

“We were privileged, with thanks to the blessed God, to enter the Gaza Strip, together with the Nachala movement and dozens of families, women, men, and children,” she wrote on social media. She added, “Gaza will always be ours.”

Nachala also quoted Son Har-Melech as saying, “In place of murderers, Jewish children will play.”

The IDF noted that the area along the Gaza border has been declared a closed military zone, barring civilian entry without authorization.

Earlier this month, another group associated with Nachala crossed into Gaza during a protest held near the border, drawing a similar response from Israeli forces.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said since the outbreak of the war that Israel has no intention of renewing settlements inside Gaza, even as some members of his coalition have called for such a move.

Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught that sparked the current war, Israeli civilians have on several occasions attempted to enter the Gaza Strip, often driven by efforts to return to areas evacuated under Israel’s 2005 Disengagement Plan.