Extremist Jewish settlers eye Gaza as they seek to expel Palestinians from enclave

Middle East ConflictExtremist Jewish settlers eye Gaza, seek to expel Palestinians from enclaveAfter years on the political fringes, support for making the war-torn Palestinian enclave into a Jewish community is gaining support across Israel.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Add NBC News to GoogleAs Gaza struggles to rebuild, some hard-line Israelis call for settlement of the enclave03:07Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 17, 2026, 5:30 AM EDTBy Shira Pinson and Matt BradleyGAZA BORDER, Israel — A river of Israeli flags winds through a desert path as hundreds of people, young and old, march toward the border in a display of their determination to build new Jewish settlements atop the rubble of northern Gaza.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.So few buildings are left standing after Israeli bombardment that the Mediterranean is visible in the distance.Daniella Weiss, founder of the radical right-wing settler group Nachala, sums up the crowd’s intentions.“We are here on the way to new Jewish communities in Gaza,” she told NBC News in an interview at the border in late April.“What we did in Judea and Samaria, we are going to do the same thing here,” Weiss added, a reference to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where illegal Jewish outposts and settler violence against Palestinians have grown dramatically in recent years.Right-wing Nachala movement settlers march near the Gaza border on April 22 near Kibbutz Nir Am, Israel. Erik Marmor / Getty ImagesWhile the march toward Gaza was a symbolic one, the statement it made still resonates across the Middle East. It also marks the journey Weiss and her hard-line movement have made from the fringes of Israeli society toward the political mainstream, propelled by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.Weiss, who has referred to the events of Oct. 7 as a “miracle,” told...