Israeli Settler Movement Grows Stronger
Introduction
In April 2026, a group called Nachala had a rally near Gaza. They want Jewish people to live in Gaza again. Gaza has about two million Palestinians. The rally happened during a war and a ceasefire. The Israeli government is now more right-wing. The US president Donald Trump supports this.
Main Body
At the rally, several hundred people came. Some had guns. A speaker named Hadar Bar-Chai said the fence will come down. Jews will live in Gaza again. He talked about a destroyed city called Beit Hanoun. It will become a neighborhood of the Israeli city Sderot. The march went along the fence. An Israeli drone watched from above. Nachala started after Israel left Gaza in 2005. The settler movement was once small. Now it has power in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu''s government. Important ministers are settlers. On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel. 1,200 Israelis died. 251 people were taken as hostages. The war that followed killed over 70,000 Palestinians. The Israeli army now controls 53% of Gaza. The ceasefire is still in place. The settler movement also wants more land in the West Bank. The settler population grew from 250,000 to over 730,000. New outposts are built. Some are illegal under Israeli law. Violence is increasing. In March 2026, settlers attacked a Palestinian village called Qaryut. They killed two brothers, Mohammed and Fahim Moammar. Another brother, Jamil, was hurt. The attack happened after settlers built a road near the family''s olive trees. Israeli soldiers from a special unit also attacked a CNN news team. Palestinian leaders say Israel acts without punishment. The US supports Israel. In southern Lebanon, Israel made a security zone. It is 5 to 10 kilometers inside Lebanon. People from 55 villages cannot go back home. Settlers tried to enter Lebanon in December 2025 and February 2026. The army stopped them. A settler leader named Daniella Weiss said she has families ready to move into Gaza. She wants a Gaza with over one million Jews and no Palestinians. She also wants settlements in Lebanon and Syria. The US ambassador Mike Huckabee supports Israeli control over part of the West Bank. He said Israel could take all of it. President Trump lifted sanctions on a settler group called Hilltop Youth. Some Israelis have different ideas. Hanna Barag said she does not recognize Israel anymore. She calls it an apartheid state. She thinks the far right became powerful because Netanyahu needs their support to avoid his trial. Also, the trauma of October 7 helped them. Rachel Ben Dor was part of a group that helped Israel leave Lebanon in 2000. She is sad that Israeli soldiers are back in southern Lebanon. She said the peace left might even support Netanyahu to stop the far right. A pollster named Mitchell Barak said Israeli society is now split between the right and the further right. Young people want a strong, expansionist security policy.
Conclusion
The settler movement feels powerful. It has support from the US government. It wants more land in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. Some people in Israel oppose this. The peace group is smaller now. Many countries criticize the settlers. But the movement keeps growing because of the current government and the wars. The situation can get worse. Israel continues its military actions and building settlements.