Settlers March on Gaza as Army Seals Border Zone

For Belgrade, which carefully balances warm ties with Israel against its obligation as an EU candidate to align its foreign policy with Brussels, any new escalation in the Middle East is not a distant story: it lifts energy prices, tests the unity of European capitals, and shifts a geopolitical reality in a neighborhood Serbia does not get to choose. That is why the march of Israeli settlers on the Gaza Strip, which the army tried to pre-empt by sealing the whole zone, goes beyond a local political fight and becomes a measure of how far the right-wing coalition in Jerusalem is willing to go while a war with Iran rages on another front.

Army seals the zone, ministers pledge to join

The Israeli military said it had restricted access to areas around the Gaza Strip ahead of a march led by the Nachala movement, which openly advocates rebuilding Jewish settlements in the enclave that was evacuated in 2005. The army warned it would prevent any attempt at illegal entry into the Strip, producing an unusual scene for the cameras: the same government whose ministers back the march is deploying forces to stop it at the fence.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the two loudest advocates of a settler return, are expected to join the column along with several lawmakers from the governing coalition. Their presence is not merely symbolic: it draws a clear line between a declared security policy and a far-right political project that treats renewed settlement as a permanent war aim rather than a side issue.

The march comes as Israel is simultaneously engaged on the Iranian front, so the domestic stage and the external conflict are beginning to overlap. For part of the electorate, rebuilding settlements in Gaza is proof of resolve; for another part, and for most European capitals, it is an obstacle to any scenario for the enclave’s postwar order.

What does the march mean for a fragile Israeli government?

The political context is decisive, because the Knesset has just dissolved and set elections for October 27. In a campaign, every move by far-right ministers reads twice over: as a message to the voter base and as a test of strength inside a coalition that is fraying. Seen this way, the march on Gaza is not a spontaneous gathering but a carefully timed piece of political theatre.

A judicial clash over the media adds to the tension. The Supreme Court temporarily froze parts of a contested media law, and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi publicly challenged the ruling, opening yet another front, this time between the executive and the judiciary. Add the pressure of war and election fever, and you have a government running an external conflict, an internal institutional dispute, and street pressure from its own ministers all at once.

For the European perspective that Serbia formally shares, the message is uncomfortable: while a diplomatic channel is sought to calm the region, part of the Israeli government is working to deepen the conflict. Whether the march remains a symbolic gesture before the vote or the announcement of a lasting Gaza policy will become clear at the October ballot boxes, and the answer will echo well beyond Israel’s borders.

How do you rate the odds that a postwar settlement for Gaza can be agreed at all while settlements are back at the center of an election campaign?