Israeli army closes areas near Gaza border amid planned settler march

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army closed several areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip on Monday and prohibited entry without prior permission.

A military statement said the move was taken following an assessment of the security situation, without providing further details.

The military order restricts access to certain areas near the Palestinian enclave, without specifying a date for ending the closure.

According to Israeli Channel 12, the decision aims to prevent extremist right-wing Israelis from entering areas in southern Israel near the Gaza border. These groups have called for a march towards the Netzarim crossing in central Gaza on Tuesday to declare the establishment of a settlement in the area.

Israeli settlers are generally barred from entering any part of the Gaza Strip.

For months, there has been growing calls in Israel, including from government ministers, to reestablish illegal settlements in Gaza, from which the Israeli military withdrew in 2005 after occupying the territory since 1967.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed nearly 39,900 victims, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,000 others, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio