Organizers said bereaved families, families of hostages, reservists, and war-wounded joined the march to express solidarity and press for a “security-first” approach to permanent Jewish presence.
About 1,500 people gathered along the Gaza border on Thursday to march toward the Strip and plant trees near the ruins of Nisanit in the northern Gaza Strip, organizers from the Nachala Movement said.
Participants set out in groups toward the Black Arrow monument and other routes, carrying Israeli flags and saplings to signal support for renewed Jewish settlement as a path to security, according to the organizers.
“Gaza belongs to the people of Israel,” said Nachala Movement public relations manager Daniella Weiss, adding that the march was meant to demonstrate public backing for Jewish communities as a guarantor of security.
Another Nachala leader said the goal was to “give the government the strength to overcome pressures” and support new communities.
Organizers said bereaved families, families of hostages, reservists, and war-wounded joined the march to express solidarity and press for what they called a “security-first” approach to permanent Jewish presence.
IDF soldiers standing near the Gaza border, in Israel, February 4, 2026 (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
Nisanit is one of three Israeli communities evacuated in 2005, and has frequently featured in debates over whether resettlement would enhance or undermine border security.
The organizers framed Thursday’s turnout as proof of public support for their message, saying, “We came back to plant roots to show the world we are home to stay.”
IDF deploys to intercept marchers
The IDF released a statement later on Thursday announcing that they were aware of the march headed towards the Gaza border fence, an area, which the military clarified “is located within a closed military zone where civilian entry is prohibited.”
Troops and Israel Police officers were deployed to prevent civilian marchers from attempting to cross the border or fence.
The IDF reiterated that “approaching the border fence and crossing into the Gaza Strip is dangerous and disrupts security forces’ operational activity in the area,” adding that they “condemn actions that divert the attention of commanders and soldiers from their primary mission of defense and counterterrorism.”
The IDF said armored units and Israel Air Force aircraft struck targets in the area and called the incident a blatant violation of the current ceasefire agreement.
An IDF reserve officer was severely wounded on Tuesday night during routine operational activity near the yellow line in northern Gaza, after terrorists opened fire on troops, the military confirmed on Wednesday.
The officer was evacuated to a hospital and his family was notified, according to the military. The IDF said armored units and Israel Air Force aircraft struck targets in the area and called the incident a blatant violation of the current ceasefire agreement.
Additionally, earlier on Tuesday, terrorists in Jericho threw rocks at IDF soldiers. The soldiers responded by opening fire, killing one of the terrorists and injuring several others.
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip. January 11, 2025. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
No IDF injuries were reported during the incident.
Terrorist activity continues in Gaza, West Bank as Phase II of ceasefire moves forward
This week, Israel fully reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for pedestrians, the first step in moving toward Phase II of the US-backed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
On Tuesday, US envoySteve Witkoff arrived in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss, among other things, Hamas’s disarmament and the demilitarizion the Gaza Strip.
IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip, August 1, 2025. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON
The first incident saw two suspects crossing and had “conducted suspicious activities on the ground,” the military said, as they also approached Israeli forces.
The IDF killed a total of three suspects who crossed the IDF-controlled Yellow Line zone in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday morning, the military announced on Saturday afternoon.
The first incident saw two suspects crossing who were said to have been conducting suspicious activities on the ground, the military said. The two men were approaching the soldiers before their deaths.
The second incident, later on Saturday morning, saw a terrorist killed after he crossed the Yellow Line to approach Israeli soldiers.
‘Yellow Line’ ceasefire violations inside Gaza
On Monday, the IDF killed multiple terrorists trying to cross the Yellow Line in Gaza.
In the first incident, the military shared that it had identified a terrorist crossing the Yellow Line in the Khan Yunis area. Noting that the terrorist was approaching troops and posing a threat to soldiers, the military declared it had killed the terrorist.
In a second incident, the IDF identified two terrorists trying to cross the Yellow Line in the northern Gaza Strip. These terrorists were also killed by the military, the IDF announced.
The terrorist described how Hamas used UN and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to its advantage in battle.
IDF soldiers seized the personal journal of a Hamas commander from Beit Hanun in Gaza, N12 News reported on Sunday.
Terrorist Khaled Abu Akram’s diary entries prove how Hamas exploits civilian infrastructure in Gaza. For example, in one entry from May 2024, Akram writes about how he went to set up an ambush at a school after tunnels in the area were bombed.
“I went with Abu Saleh (a unit commander in a different company in the area) to set up a new ambush at the Al-Naim school after the tunnels in the area were bombed, and the previous ambush was destroyed,” he wrote.
Akram also described how Hamas used UN infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to its advantage.
“Additionally, we took the batteries from the UNRWA clinic, removed the solar panels, and prepared the water well,” Abu Akram wrote in his diary.
A Hamas terrorist stands next to heavy machinery, after Hamas said that it found the remains of an Israeli hostage on Tuesday and prepares to return it to Israel through the Red Cross, in Gaza City, November 4, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/DAWOUD ABU ALKAS)
IDF destroys Beit Hanun tunnel where three soldiers were killed 11 months ago
On Friday night, the IDF destroyed a tunnel complex where three members from the Kfir Brigade’s 92nd Battalion were killed 11 months ago, the military said on Saturday.
Positioned east of the Yellow Line, near the Beit Hanun area of the Gaza Strip in an IDF-controlled region, the tunnel ran one kilometer wide and was dozens of meters deep, the army added.
The three IDF soldiers who were killed there nearly a year ago were Capt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, St.-Sgt. Netanel Pessach, and Sgt.-Maj. Hillel Diener. One other soldier was wounded in the incident.
Hamas stockpiling weapons in sympathetic countries despite Gaza disarmament deal
Hamas has started stockpiling weapons in African countries, Yemen, and other nations sympathetic to the terrorist organization, Israeli public broadcaster KAN News reported on Sunday.
The report follows the implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which stipulates the disarmament of the latter.
According to KAN, the weapons are being stockpiled so that they can later be smuggled to locations, including the Gaza Strip, where Hamas can access them.
The alleged abuse of the terrorist appears in the leaked Sde Teiman video central in the scandal around military advocate-general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation.
The Palestinian detainee who was allegedly abused by five IDF soldiers at Sde Teiman was returned by the military to Gaza in October as part of the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages.
Despite the intense interest and scrutiny surrounding the case, the IDF did not publicize its decision to release the detainee at the time.
His release was leaked to the media, and at the time of writing, the IDF still had not explained why he was released if he was needed as a critical witness in the case against the five IDF soldiers.
Further, the IDF had not explained why he, reportedly, was not even questioned about the incident.
Later, the IDF responded to inquiries on the matter, accusing the Shin bet and the Israel Prisons Service of releasing the detainee.
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned as IDF Military Advocate General on October 31, pictured on September 18, 2025 in Jerusalem. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
However, the Jerusalem Post pointed out to the IDF spokesperson’s office that it was the IDF legal division who had chosen not to question the detainee for over a year since the incident in July 2024, and who also decided not to question him even once they started to learn that he might soon be released to Gaza.
The IDF spokesperson had no explanation to address these issues, raising larger questions about who decided not to question him and why.
According to the indictment, among the five IDF soldiers, they took part in different aspects of beating him and breaking several of his ribs, as well as shoving an object up his anus.
Video involving terrorist center of leak scandal surrounding ex-military advocate-general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi
The news about his release broke as the country has been battered with dramatic development after development regarding the fate of former IDF military advocate-general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned last Friday after admitting to illegally leaking a video allegedly showing the five IDF soldiers beating the detainee.
The video would be expected to be presented at trial, but it is illegal for law enforcement to leak such evidentiary material before the trial.
Some supporters of the IDF legal division have said that the defendants had been presented with the video before it was leaked, which might reduce the severity of their alleged violation.
The military singled out the efforts of the kibbutz’s security coordinator for his role in preventing the terror infiltration by continuing to return fire despite being wounded.
While Hamas was unsuccessful in its attempt to infiltrate Kibbutz Gevim during the October 7 massacre, the military failed in its mission to defend the kibbutz, according to the IDF’s findings released on Tuesday.
The army’s probe found that the kibbutz’s emergency standby squad operated “optimally” throughout the events, which allowed for the continued defense of the kibbutz until organized military forces arrived on October 8.
Singling out the efforts of the kibbutz’s security coordinator, the IDF said that he was able to return fire against the terrorists trying to infiltrate the kibbutz, disrupting their efforts, despite being severely wounded.
The investigation noted that a group of eight Hamas terrorists had attacked the kibbutz.
However, faced with these disruptions, they redirected, continuing their massacre along Highway 34 and in Yachini instead.
Civilians, including journalists, take cover behind cars as IDF soldiers clash with infiltrating terrorists on Highway 34, near Kibbutz Gevim, October 7, 2023. (credit: OREN ZIV/AFP via Getty Images)
As for the kibbutz’s emergency standby squad, it was able to provide the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion with ammunition, guidance, and escort outside Kibbutz Gevim’s fence, including rescuing civilians from a nearby gas station, which the probe highlighted as noteworthy.
In addition, the team, along with other kibbutz residents, provided medical care and evacuated wounded individuals, which likely played a key role in saving lives.
The military found that most residents of Kibbutz Gevim evacuated their homes independently, rather than as part of a coordinated evacuation effort.
As the kibbutz is located within a range of 0-4 kilometers of the Gaza security perimeter, the investigation recommends that it should be allocated means and resources similar to those of every community with this status.
The military noted that it is not possible to precisely reconstruct what occurred at the kibbutz’s perimeter fence, as there are no cameras in the community’s defense installations.
The probe found that the kibbutz’s emergency response team had 20 members, with 16 weapons in its possession. At the time the massacre began, most of the weapons were stored in the armory. The exceptions were the personal weapons of the security coordinator, his deputy, and three team members.
October 7-8 timeline of events near and in Kibbutz Gevim
Phase 1: Starting time of the attack as the terrorists head to the kibbutz to attempt infiltration (from 6:29 a.m. until 7:25 a.m.)
Red Alert sirens were sounded across the country at 6:29 a.m. as the massacre began.
At approximately 6:58 a.m., terrorists were moving in the area of the industrial factories of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, which are located near Gevim.
At 7:10 a.m., the kibbutz’s security coordinator instructed his deputy to come to the perimeter gate due to the complexity of the situation.
At 7:13 a.m., the deputy sent a WhatsApp message to emergency standby squad members, warning them of the complexities of the unfolding event and ordering them to retrieve their weapons.
At 7:21 a.m., a detail of eight terrorists riding in a pickup truck passed the Sha’ar Hanegev junction, heading toward Kibbutz Gevim.
At 7:22, the terrorists tried to break into the gas station near the kibbutz – unsuccessfully.
By 7:25, these Nukhba terrorists had reached the kibbutz guard post and attempted to infiltrate it.
Phase 2: Battle at the kibbutz perimeter gate (from 7:25 a.m. until 7:28 a.m.)
At approximately 7:15 a.m., the kibbutz’s security coordinator went on patrol, driving along the kibbutz’s perimeter road. When he reached the area by the guard post, terrorists opened fire on him from the direction of the perimeter fence.
The security coordinator retreated slightly from that point, exited the vehicle, and returned fire. He was wounded in the firefight.
While this was occurring, he reported the encounter with the terrorists to his deputy, as well as to the deputy security coordinator of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. The kibbutz deputy moved toward the point of contact with the terrorists and directed the emergency standby squad to the kibbutz’s main gate.
At 7:26 a.m., an operations officer from the IDF Home Front Command’s Southern District, who was a resident of the kibbutz, left their home and headed to the guard post. They were hit by terrorist gunfire.
A minute later, one of the kibbutz’s residents drove toward the guard post and was also hit by terrorist gunfire. At the same time, Hamas threw a grenade at this same resident.
At 7:28 a.m., the terrorists left the kibbutz perimeter gate area, en route to Yachini instead.
At 7:29, the terrorists, while on Highway 34, opened fire on a vehicle belonging to a resident of the kibbutz, wounding him. The resident continued to drive and successfully entered Kibbutz Gevim.
At 7:30, the deputy security coordinator, along with a kibbutz resident, Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Gil Shwarsman arrived at the kibbutz’s main gate.
Then, at approximately 7:33 a.m., members of the kibbutz’s emergency standby squad were instructed to take up defensive positions in the kibbutz.
From this point onward, Shwarsman took command of the emergency standby squad and served as security coordinator for the kibbutz for the duration of the massacre.
Phase 3: Combating the terrorists on Highway 34 and in Yachini (07:40 a.m. until 10:40 a.m.)
At 7:40 a.m., 11 members of the standby squad had taken positions at five locations around the kibbutz and remained there to carry out defensive missions throughout the day. Additionally, a team began patrolling the area.
At 7:55 a.m., the deputy security coordinator sent a message to all remaining unarmed members of the emergency standby squad, instructing them to proceed to the kibbutz armory to arm themselves.
At 8:04, terrorists reached Yachini and split into two groups; one group stayed in Yachini, and the other fled in a stolen vehicle that drove in the direction of fields north of the community.
At 8:09, the terrorist squadron set up an ambush along Highway 34 between Gevim and Yachini.
At 8:11, terrorists murdered two civilians who were fleeing from the Nova music festival.
At 8:14 a.m., Sgt. Amit Guetta, from the Maglan special commando unit, located and identified a terrorist ambush on the highway, making a U-turn to thwart them. Guetta was critically wounded by the terrorists and succumbed to his wounds.
Subsequently, and until around 10:40, the rest of the terrorists were killed during several separate encounters by the police’s Counterterrorism Unit (Yamam), an officer from the police’s Yoav Unit, and security guards from a nearby municipal security unit.
Additional security personnel, as well as armed civilians, also assisted in the fighting along both the highway and in Yachini.
Phase 4: Arrival of additional defense forces and rescue of civilians at a nearby gas station (10:30 a.m. on Oct. 7 until 4 p.m. on Oct. 8)
At approximately 10:30 a.m., the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, Lt.-Col. Tomer Grinberg arrived at the gate of the kibbutz.
Simultaneously, emergency standby squad members provided ammunition magazines to Grinberg, escorting him and his team to Gevim junction. Grinberg’s objective was to reach Kibbutz Kfar Aza via open fields.
Upon reaching Gevim junction, they saw a hostile vehicle driving in an open field and opened fire at it.
At 12:00 p.m., two vehicles carrying members of the emergency standby squad left the kibbutz, striving to reach the nearby gas station in order to rescue 12 civilians who were sheltered in a protected room there.
In addition, other members of the squad were deployed to staff the kibbutz’s guard posts.
Furthermore, a couple of squad members scanned the kibbutz area, going from house to house to aid residents as much as possible.
Fighting continued to rage on Highway 34 and in the open fields surrounding the kibbutz throughout October 7, the probe noted.
At 6 p.m., a group of soldiers from the air force’s Shaldag special forces unit arrived at the gas station near the kibbutz to prepare for further deployment. When they neared the Gevim junction, the group exited their vehicles, hearing gunfire.
By and by, a group of officers from a Border Police tactical unit, which was moving in the area, was searching for a location to conduct a briefing and arrived at the guard post, where they met Shwarsman.
He then informed the group of police officers that members of the kibbutz’s standby squad, who were covering positions along the kibbutz perimeter fence, had identified suspicious activity on a nearby hill between Highway 34 and the kibbutz.
Following this data, in his role as security coordinator, Shwarsman split the tactical unit of officers at approximately 6:10 p.m. Some of them moved toward the observation point, while others began a flanking maneuver directed at the nearby hill.
The police conducted a sweep, including the use of live fire, to target the points where the suspicious movements were identified. These actions were carried out in coordination with the air force’s Shaldag and the rest of the tactical unit.
On October 8, at about 4 p.m., an organized military force arrived to defend the kibbutz. Until that time, the kibbutz’s defense was based mainly on the emergency standby squad.
Residents who had not already evacuated by this point received evacuation assistance from IDF soldiers who arrived that afternoon.
During subsequent searches of the area, security personnel discovered foreign workers. One of them was found wounded, and the other was found dead.
Additionally, live terrorists, as well as the bodies of those who were successfully killed, were located in the following days in the areas surrounding Gevim, Yachini, and other parts of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council.
This led to additional clashes between security forces and the remaining terrorists.
“Hamas is currently in a state of confusion,” a military source told Maariv. “It doesn’t know where the IDF is striking from and has no clear sense of the scale of forces we’re using against them.”
For now, clashes remain limited, with Hamas avoiding major confrontations except for a few incidents. In one of them, yesterday, Maj. Shahar Netanel Buzaglo, a company commander in the 77th Armored Battalion, was killed in battle.
Palestinians flee with their belongings from the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City to safer areas, on September 22, 2025. (credit: Khalil Kahlout/Flash90)
The military source also said that there had been “limited movement of terrorists and the number of clashes is not large. They probably prefer to dig in and preserve their strength.”
IDF reinforces all fronts
IDF combat forces have been reinforced on land, at sea, in the air, and across all units throughout the country, with dozens of IDF battalions being placed on high alert for the duration of the High Holidays.
IDF Central Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth has ordered extra troops to secure shopping centers, roads, junctions, bus stops, hitchhiking posts, and communities.
“The many challenges before us, the fighting in Gaza City, defense in the north, and the constant battle against terrorism in Judea and Samaria, have recently converged with political statements, the holidays, and the olive harvest, foreign incitement, and lone-wolf inspiration. All these are not reasons for optimism, but I am full of hope,” Bluth said at a ceremony marking 35 years of the West Bank Yamam unit.
On the other hand, Hamas commanders seem to be in distress due to the heavy pressure, with sources inside Gaza City saying the terror organization is pushing for civilians to stay using violence.
“We saw at the end of the week that Hamas attacked a UN convoy, which indicates their distress. We know more about the situation Hamas finds itself in in Gaza City,” said a military source.
Hamas ramps up operations in the West Bank, expanding terror infrastructure and planning attacks against Israelis, while IDF operations intensify.
Security sources claimed that Hamas has been deploying terror forces and resources to carry out attacks across the West Bank, Walla learned on Wednesday. According to estimates from the IDF’s Central Command, several incidents involving terror infrastructure, which Hamas has been trying to expand in recent months, are expected to be uncovered and announced soon.
In addition, Central Command estimates indicate that IDF operations within refugee camps in the northern West Bank, along with their territorial presence, has caused Hamas’s terror infrastructure in the region to either move, or re-establish itself elsewhere in other areas of the West Bank.
In light of the high-alert warnings of impending terror attacks, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Heller, the incoming commander of the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division, increased the scale of arrest operations against those suspected of terror activities, including overnight operations.
In addition, Hamas representatives in Gaza, the West Bank, and abroad, are channeling funds through various methods to recruit operatives, smuggle weapons and ammunition, and organize terror cells to plan and carry out a variety of attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians, according to military sources.
Hamas is now looking at three tactical arenas before carrying out these attacks. First, exacting a price from Israel for its decision to capture Gaza City, second, preparing for the UN General Assembly where the Palestinian Authority hopes to gain recognition as a state, and third, their ongoing goal to harm Israelis.
Palestinian security personnel seen in the West Bank city of Nablus, December 27, 2024 (credit: Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Warnings of attacks are coming at a time when security apparatuses are deteriorating, due to the difficulty of paying full salaries to police officers, security officials have warned. These officers, who wear the PA’s uniforms, are exposed to temptations from terrorist organizations and rampant incitement on social media.
The current situation is that tens of thousands of civil servants are not receiving their salaries, Israel is preventing Palestinian workers from entering the country, and additionally, it is not advancing the establishment of factories in West Bank industrial zones.
PIJ claims last week’s Tulkarm attack on IDF vehicle
The poll found that 46% believe that the IDF op. in Gaza City has a low chance of defeating Hamas, 38% are confident it will succeed in this goal, and 16% are unsure.
Almost half of Israelis polled believe that the IDF’s expansion of operations into Gaza City has a low chance of defeating the Hamas terror organization, according to a poll published on Saturday.
The poll found that 46% of Israelis feel this way, while 38% of those polled believe that the expanded operations will succeed in achieving this goal.
Approximately one-sixth of those polled, at 16%, were unsure.
Division over Oct. 7 investigation commission members
The poll also found that over half of Israelis, at 52%, believe that a state commission of inquiry is the proper tool to investigate the failures of October 7, 2023, as opposed to a commission with members appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The poll also found that 30% support Netanyahu’s proposal that the commission of inquiry should consist of members appointed by him, while 18% said they were unsure.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem on August 11, 2025. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
The poll was conducted by Lazar Research under Dr. Menachem Lazar together with the online response panel Panel4All. It surveyed 500 respondents, both Jewish and Arab, with a maximum margin of error of 4.4%.
