Israeli troops helped an Israeli settler leader scout locations for potential Jewish Settlements in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Friday.
According to The Times of Israel, Daniella Weiss, leader of the extremist Nachala movement, was touring the Israeli side of the Gaza border on November 13 with a group of people. The group eventually made its way into northern Gaza somehow, and Weiss contacted Israeli soldiers she knew who sent a jeep to pick them up.
The Israeli soldiers took the group of settlers to a site that was a Jewish settlement before the 2005 disengagement in the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land controlled by the Israeli military that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip. The IDF has bulldozed just about every building in the corridor, which is expanding, making it a potential location for future settlements.
The Israeli reports said the soldiers transported Weiss without the knowledge of their superiors. They drove Weiss and her group out of the Strip through an unofficial crossing to avoid being questioned by other security forces.
In response to the reports, the Israeli military said, “Weiss’s entrance into the Gaza Strip is unknown and was not approved in the proper avenues. If the incident took place, it’s illegal and against protocol, and will be handled accordingly.”
Weiss has previously said she has 740 families ready to move into Gaza. In comments to Israel’s Kan broadcaster, Weiss said she is planning to set up settlements near Israeli military bases in Gaza that she thinks will eventually be recognized by the government, the same strategy Israeli settlers have used in the West Bank.
“How will we enter a military base?” Weiss said. “There are all sorts of creative ideas: So here you have a tent, and next to the tent there is a structure, and next to that there is a kitchen, and next to that there are kids, and so it goes on.”
She also signaled that an attempt at establishing settlements might start soon. “We’re no longer getting ready to go in. The moment we can enter — we enter,” Weiss said. She added that if “300 people enter at once,” the military would have difficulty kicking them out.
The idea of re-establishing Jewish settlements in Gaza is popular among many Israeli ministers and members of the Knesset, who recently attended a “resettle Gaza” conference that was organized by the Nachala movement and members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
At the conference, Weiss made clear that she wanted to settle all of Gaza and for all the Palestinians to be expelled. “In less than a year, each one of you can call me and ask me if I succeeded in fulfilling my dream,” she said. “Actually, you don’t even have to call me. You will witness how Jews go to Gaza and Arabs disappear from Gaza.”
