What is the Nachala movement that wants to occupy Gaza?
A far-right Jewish group has set up tents on Gaza’s border with the hope of occupying and resettling the Palestinian enclave.
Right wing Israeli activists from the Nachala Settlement Movement at a protest calling for the establishment of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, July 12, 2022. / Photo: AP Archive
This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, Likud, sent out invites to an exclusive event called “Preparing to Settle Gaza”.
The event is part of an initiative launched by the Nachala Settlement Movement, which is active in building illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and will take place near the border of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
A poster for the event, also referred to as ‘Gaza Settlement Conference’ reads: “Gaza is ours. Forever”.
“The Zionist aim has always been to displace the indigenous Palestinian people and replace them with Israeli settlers,” says Zaid Amali, Director of International Advocacy at Palestinian NGO MIFTAH.
“Such plans reveal the real objective and colonial aspirations behind the ongoing genocide in Gaza, especially the recent extermination campaign in Northern Gaza, as well as the accelerating ethnic cleansing of the West Bank being done in parallel,” he tells TRT World.
Palestinians have long expressed fear that the Israeli war is more about displacing them from their ancestral homes than fighting Hamas resistance.
Netanyahu’s government is heavily influenced by the settler movement, with literal settlers holding key ministries and offices at state institutions.
These officials have been quite vocal and shameless about their expansionist policies across Palestine and neighbouring countries, says Amali.
The Nachala Settlement Movement has sent up tents on the Israeli side near the border with Gaza under military protection.
The deputy permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, New York, Majed Bamya, tweeted about the event and said:
“Israel’s colonial designs in Gaza will become more and more evident. Genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, especially the North now, are to set the stage for annexation and colonisation.”
The Times of Israel claimed that 10 out of 32 members of parliament and one member of Cabinet – the social equality minister May Golan, said that they would attend the event.
The far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, and Periphery Development Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf are also expected to attend.
The security and finance ministers have previously attended and spoken at similar events sponsored by Nachala earlier this year. Both ministers called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.
Getting to know Nachala
According to their website, Nachala aims to build more settlements in the occupied West Bank and further Zionist ideology in schools.
But what is the movement really about?
Nachala is an ultra-nationalist Jewish group whose members build illegal settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and whose goal is Israeli annexation of all of Palestine.
They are sponsored by Zionist political parties.
“A huge Sukkot fair in the city of Sukkot near the Gaza Strip! Join us and dozens of MKs, ministers, nuclear families of the settlement, bereaved families, families of abducted fighters and more. We will walk between the Sukkots and enjoy together conversations and conversation circles under the sign 'Preparing to settle in the Gaza Strip',” the group said in a tweet peppered with emojis.
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