'Take territory, occupy and settle': Israeli settlers cross into Gaza in bid to seize Palestinian land

Far-right Israeli settlers crossed into the Gaza Strip this week in an explicit attempt to seize Palestinian land, entering the northern areas of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, where Israel had previously built illegal settlements on confiscated land before dismantling them during the 2005 disengagement.

Israeli media and videos from the scene showed dozens of extremist settler activists breaching the boundary fence and moving into destroyed lands north of Beit Lahia.

These areas, historically belonging to Palestinian families from Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, were expropriated during the occupation and later incorporated into a settlement bloc that fragmented both areas.

The settlers erected tents and planted an olive tree, according to media reports.

In a video filmed at the location, one settler said: "The entire land of Israel is ours, and after the terrible massacre we experienced, we need to understand this and internalise it and treat the enemy accordingly. Take territory, occupy and settle."

Another statement from the group called on the Israeli government to approve a new settlement in Gaza "immediately".

Organisers said they had aimed to re-establish a settler presence on the ruins of the former settlement bloc built on land belonging to Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun.

Their messaging mirrors that of far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who have repeatedly advocated for depopulating Gaza and reinstalling Jewish settlements.

The breach occurred inside what the Israeli military calls the "yellow line", an area of northern Gaza that remains under full Israeli control.

The Israeli army said it had stopped the group and returned them to Israeli territory, warning that entering Gaza "endangers civilians and interferes with the activities of Israeli forces".

The settler incursion comes as Israel continues to prevent displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Gaza City.

Nearly two million people remain trapped in temporary shelters in the south, many of them in flooded and freezing tents.

Although a ceasefire has been in effect for nine weeks, Gaza's health authorities report that more than 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks during this period.

The move also coincides with Israel's push to reopen the Rafah crossing only for Palestinians to exit, a plan widely condemned by Arab and Muslim governments as an attempt to engineer mass displacement.

In a joint statement, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey rejected Israel's announcement that Rafah would open "exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt".

They warned of "any attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land" and urged Israel to comply with ceasefire obligations requiring Rafah to open in both directions.

The Rafah crossing has remained largely shut for months, with Israel restricting the entry of aid and maintaining extensive military control across more than half the enclave.

Human rights organisations say Israel is creating conditions that make return for Palestinians impossible while enabling settler activists to enter parts of Gaza under military supervision in a coordinated effort to reshape the territory's demographic and political landscape.