After coalition-affiliated settler group plans march to Gaza, IDF declares area 'closed military zone’

The IDF Southern Command announced a closed military zone order for most of the area around the Gaza Envelope on Sunday morning, in an unusual step. 

The move appears to be an attempt to prevent hundreds to thousands of right-wing activists from possibly crossing the border into the IDF-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip. 

The IDF announced that, based on an assessment of the situation, it decided to impose a closed military zone, starting today at 08:00 Sunday, until 08:00 Monday, in the western Negev region around the Gaza Envelope. In a statement, the IDF said that entry to the area will be allowed for residents and those working in the region. 

The announcement comes ahead of the planned "March of the Thousands to Gaza," scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The march is expected to draw cabinet members, senior ministers, and dozens of coalition MKs, including Ministers Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Nir Barkat, and Shlomo Karhi.

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— נחלה - תנועה להתיישבות 🧡 (@T_Nachala) July 18, 2026

According to reports in Hebrew media, the IDF increased its troop numbers along the security fence to prevent the protesters from entering the Gaza Strip. 

The military apparently fears an incident similar to the one that occurred last February, when dozens of Nachala [Hebrew for ‘inheritance’] settlement activists, including MK Limor Sun Har-Malech, entered the Gaza Strip and planted a tree in a symbolic act representing the renewal of Jewish settlement in Gaza. 

The move was presented as the start of a large-scale march calling for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza. Many settlement activists view Israel's 2005 unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, known as the Disengagement Plan, as the decision that paved the way for Hamas to seize control of the territory.

Hamas took over the Strip in a violent 2007 conflict with its Fatah rivals, after which it turned Gaza into what critics describe as a terror base.

Nachala is a settler activist group which supports all settlement activity in Judea and Samaria, as well as a return to the Gaza Strip, whether legally approved by the government or not.

It has given support to dozens of illegal outposts in Judea and Samaria, and advocated for the transfer of the majority of the Gaza population from the Strip following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. 

A military source told Israeli media that the closed military zone was declared due to the organizers’ “intentions of entering the Gaza Strip illegally.” The military has used closed military zones in the past to prevent settler groups, or other political groups from entering areas deemed to arouse tensions. 

The march is scheduled to take place under a banner with the names of former northern Gaza settlements, such as Nisanit, Dugit, and Elei Sinai, with the slogan “returning home after 21 years.” 

A statement released by the organizers said, “This move is based on the words of the Prime Minister that at this time ‘we need to act and not talk,’ alongside the words of Defense Minister Israel Katz regarding his intention to establish 3 Nachala cores in the northern envelope, and the announcement of the Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, who confirmed that the Settlement Directorate under his responsibility has already completed the preparation of the required infrastructure and plans for establishing settlement in the area.” 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed the goal of the march in a statement, saying, “July 19, the 5th of Av, there are two important things — there is the broadcast of the World Cup final, but more important — the giant march to Nisanit, to settle Gaza, to return home.” 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow settlement in the Gaza Strip, saying, “Give us the green light. The Settlement Directorate is ready to take responsibility, to establish the cores, to establish the communities, to realize the real victory in the right, just, and necessary war that you have led in recent years.” 

However, some of the residents of the Gaza Envelope did not welcome the march. A resident of Beeri told Walla News, “This is a march of folly that will lead us to destruction.” 

“There cannot be a transfer; there are two million residents there,” Avivit John added. “They are closing the roads for us and causing us inconvenience. The army is closing the roads for long hours, getting us stuck in traffic jams, and instead of the army dealing with more important things, it is dealing with the march. We are in favor of promoting long-term plans, and not marches of this kind.” 

A resident of nearby Kfar Aza expressed a similar perspective. 

“I am in favor of freedom of expression, but in my eyes this is a protest from which nothing will come. It is also not right on the level of the army’s security, which needs to deal with this. They are putting themselves at risk, because the army cannot provide 100 percent protection,” Zohar Shpak said about the march. 

However, other residents supported the goals of the march. 

“I am in favor of the march, and I also demand that the government approve renewed settlement in Gaza,” said Sderot resident Batya Keter. “The Disengagement caused irreversible damage. We, the residents of Sderot, have been paying the price since then until today. We must settle the Gaza Strip. As far as I am concerned, they can close the roads even for a week. We have been suffering since 2001, and we must let them settle in the Strip.”