Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront

Daniella Weiss, 78, is the grandmother of Israel’s settler movement. She says she already has a list of 500 families ready to move to Gaza immediately. Mrs Weiss heads a radical settler organisation called Nachala, or homeland. She has been kickstarting Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Some in the settler movement have cherished the dream - or pipedream - of returning to Gaza. In 2005, when Israel ordered a unilateral pullout, 21 settlements were dismantled and about 9,000 settlers were evacuated by the army. Many settlers saw all this as a betrayal by the state, and a strategic mistake. There are about 700,000 Jewish settlers in these areas now and settler numbers are rising fast.

The vast majority of the international community considers settlements illegal under international law, including the United Nations Security Council. Daniella claims that Palestinians want to leave Gaza and that other countries should take them in - although in a lengthy interview, she rarely uses the word Palestinian. Palestinians in Gaza, the good ones, will be enabled. I’m not saying forced, I say enabled because they want to go.

For most Palestinians, there is no way out. The borders are tightly controlled by Israel and Egypt. No foreign countries have offered refuge. A few days later, Daniella Weiss is selling the idea of a return to Gaza over cake and popcorn at a small gathering, hosted by another settler.

She has a projector, showing a new map of Gaza, complete with settlements, and leaflets entitled “Go back to Gaza. Gaza is far from empty, but much of it has been erased after almost six months of relentless Israeli bombardment. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. For some in the Israeli cabinet, the Palestinian territory - now drenched in blood - is ripe for resettlement.

About 1,000 ultranationalists pushing for a return to Gaza at event. Yehuda Shimon has raised 10 children here in a settler outpost in the West Bank. He has lived in Gaza in the past and claims a God-given right to return. Settler attacks on Palestinians have surged since 7 October according to the UN.

UN has long condemned settlements as an obstacle to peace. Now settler organisations have their eyes on Gaza once again. Is there a real prospect of settlers reaching the beachfront in Gaza? A seasoned Israeli journalist told me it won’t happen.

Then he added: “Famous last words. 34: “I’m sorry. I’ve got to go. He left the room.

You’re going to have to go now.