By Abdel Raouf ARnaout and Betul Yilmaz
JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL (AA) – The Israeli army returned several illegal Israeli settlers who crossed the border into the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
A military statement said several settlers had breached the Gaza border and entered the enclave.
Following the first attempt, dozens of others sought to cross a security fence from another point into the Palestinian territory, but were removed by army forces, the statement said.
According to Israeli media, illegal settlers responded to a recent call made by settlement groups to storm the border into Gaza to raise the Israeli flag.
On Dec. 11, the Israeli army said that a group of settlers were returned from Gaza after they entered the enclave. Local media reports suggested that they were right-wing activists with settlement tendencies.
In November, far-right Israeli parliamentarians demanded Defense Minister Israel Katz allow them to organize a tour inside the Gaza Strip in preparation for resuming settlement activity there, which contradicts a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10.
Israel has killed more than 70,700 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite the truce.