Israel blocks roads after attempt to establish outpost near Gaza — Jerusalem Post
On the morning of October 16, the Israeli army blocked roads in the area of the Nahal Oz and Kfar Aza kibbutzim in the country’s south after activists from the Nahala settlement movement attempted overnight to establish an outpost in the Simhoni Forest. The site is located between Israeli border communities and the fence on the border with the Gaza Strip.
Israeli police dispersed the participants in the action. After that, the military declared the area between the border fence and Israeli localities a closed military zone to prevent the activists from returning, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Different figures on the number of participants
The Nahala movement said that more than 700 people took part in establishing the new settlement, which it called “Pioneers of Gaza.” According to the organizers, they included dozens of families with children, rabbis, Knesset members, families of those killed, and wounded veterans of the Israel Defense Forces.
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At the same time, military sources said that about 50 people were at the site. The organizers said structures had been erected and basic infrastructure created as part of an initiative to establish an Israeli settlement inside the Gaza Strip.
The movement’s stated goal
The activists reached the area on the Israeli side of the fence and did not enter the Gaza Strip. However, Nahala called the action the first step toward restoring the Israeli settlement movement in the enclave and urged the government to move the site to Gaza’s northern perimeter zone.
In a statement, the movement also called on the next government to include in its coalition principles the establishment of Israeli communities in Gaza, the repeal of the Disengagement Law, and the encouragement of emigration. The Israel Defense Forces were preparing for possible attempts by individual activists to bypass checkpoints, reach the border fence, or cross it toward the Gaza Strip.
