The Israeli military declared a closed military zone around the Gaza Strip to prevent a planned march by far-right ministers and settlers aimed at establishing new settlements in the Palestinian territory.
The restriction, which runs until 8:00 a.m. local time on Monday, was imposed ahead of the demonstration scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Eight right-wing ministers, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, had planned to take part in the march, which was organised by the radical settler group Nachala. Participants sought to push for the establishment of new Israeli settlements inside Gaza.
Smotrich announced in March 2026 that preparations for three settlements in the Gaza Strip had been completed.