Jewish settlers camp near Gaza as Netanyahu vows escalated military pressure

GAZA CITY

Jewish settlers have begun setting up temporary camps near the border with the Gaza Strip amid discussion on plans to dislocate Palestinians, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that military pressure on Hamas will increase.

The radical settler group Nachala organized a Passover gathering in the Sa’ad area near the Gaza border, where members camped for a week. Israeli media described the event as a symbolic call for a “return to Gaza,” noting that the settlers’ presence reflects growing interest in reestablishing Jewish communities in or near the Palestinian territory.

A similar incident occurred in 1968, when settlers disguised as Swiss tourists celebrated Passover in the West Bank city of Hebron. Instead of leaving, they began to occupy parts of the city, an early example of settlement through religious symbolism.

According to Nachala activist Arbel Zak, around 80 new settler outposts have been established in the West Bank since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023. He said the group's next focus is Gaza.

Temporary accommodation has already been set up for settlers, with 30 families currently staying in the area. Zak added that 800 more families have registered with Nachala, expressing interest in moving to Gaza.

Ben Naeh, another Nachala activist, claimed that officers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) visited the camps and shown support for their activities.

Some families have been reaching out to local Jewish organizations in the region, inquiring about how they might purchase apartments in Gaza for their children.

This comes as Netanyahu sees the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza as one of the war’s strategic objectives.

In a televised speech on April 19, Netanyahu stated that while the war has come at a high cost, Israel “has no choice but to continue fighting for our very existence, until victory is achieved.”

His remarks followed Hamas’s rejection of an Israeli proposal for a new temporary ceasefire. The group said it would only agree to release hostages as part of a broader deal to end the war.

Earlier on April 19, Hamas announced that it had recovered the body of a guard killed in an Israeli airstrike. The guard had reportedly been holding Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier believed to be the last American hostage alive in Gaza. Hamas said Alexander’s fate remains unclear.

Israeli probe finds 'professional failures'

Meanwhile, an Israeli probe into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said on April 20 it has found “professional failures” and a deputy commander will be fired.

Israel at first claimed that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire but later backtracked. Cellphone video recovered from one of the medics contradicted Israel’s initial account.

The military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander, “due to poor night visibility,” assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants. Video footage obtained from the incident shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible, as they pulled up to help an ambulance that had come under fire earlier. The teams do not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner as three medics emerge and head toward the stricken ambulance. Their vehicles immediately come under a barrage of gunfire that goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses.

Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers and a U.N. staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said the slain men were “targeted at close range.”

The Israeli military investigation said the Palestinians were killed due to an “operational misunderstanding” by Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian U.N. vehicle, was a breach of orders.

It was not immediately clear whether the military investigation found that any of those killed were Hamas militants. Israel’s military initially said nine were militants.

The investigation found that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but denied that there was an attempt to conceal the event.

“The examination found no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting," it added.

The statement on the findings concluded by saying that Israel’s military “regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians.” The one survivor was detained for investigation and remains in custody for further questioning.

The investigation's findings have been turned over the Military Advocate General, which can decide whether to file charges. It is meant to be an independent body, with oversight by Israel’s attorney general and Supreme Court.

There are no outside investigations of the killings underway.

Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters inside ambulances and emergency vehicles, as well as in hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, arguing that justifies strikes on them. Medical personnel largely deny the accusations.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 150 emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defense, most of them while on duty, as well as over 1,000 health workers, according to the U.N. The Israeli military rarely investigates such incidents.

Palestinians and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel’s military of failing to properly investigate or whitewashing misconduct by its troops.

The International Criminal Court, established by the international community as a court of last resort, has accused Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes. Israel, which is not a member of the court, has long asserted that its legal system is capable of investigating the army, and Netanyahu has accused the ICC of antisemitism.

Citing a string of “serious incidents” that resulted in soldiers’ deaths and accidental shootings, Israel’s Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir on Sunday instructed a temporary halt to all military training exercises, lasting a day but possibly longer, public broadcaster KAN reported.

The incidents, which occurred over recent weeks, involved soldier fatalities and ammunition mishaps, with a focus on prioritizing troop safety.

Among the accidents were an unintended burst of machine gun fire inside a Namer armored vehicle and a military vehicle striking a landmine, the broadcaster noted.

Other incidents included a troop carrier overturning in a water channel, a soldier falling into a well, and multiple cases of errant shelling and gunfire.

Army leadership said the training suspension will last at least through Monday, aiming to “bolster safety protocols to protect soldiers’ lives, particularly amid ongoing wartime,” the broadcaster said.