Israelis march to Gaza border demanding re-establishment of settlements

Thousands of Israelis, including settlers and right-wing "activists," marched toward the Gaza border on Sunday, calling on the government to re-establish Israeli settlements in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, an AFP journalist reported.

The demonstrators gathered near the border before marching toward the fence overlooking northern Gaza, where Israeli security forces deployed allegedly to prevent them from advancing further.

AFP footage showed marchers waving Israeli flags as soldiers and police blocked access to the restricted area.

"We are walking today to tell the government of Israel and show all the world that this land belongs to us and that Gaza really belongs to us and that we want to go back there," participant Daniel Sellem said.

Sellem said the march was intended to pressure the government to authorize a return to Gaza, more than two decades after Israel evacuated all settlements from the territory under a 2005 disengagement plan.

"We are trying to put pressure on them, and I have a big hope that it will work and that we will go back and live there as soon as possible," Sellem said.

Another participant, Yechiel Greenblum, said the event marked what he viewed as "just the beginning" of a campaign to restore Israeli occupation in the coastal territory.

Previous marches have likewise sought to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing in Israel's history, to re-establish settlements in the territory, much of which has been rendered uninhabitable by more than two years of Israeli attacks.

Israeli military currently control more than 60% of the Gaza Strip, where daily violence continues despite a nominal cease-fire, which Israel has violated every day.