Last week, near Be’eri, a border kibbutz devastated by the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, the pro-settlement organisation Nachala held a “Preparing to Resettle Gaza” conference, laying out its vision for the strip’s future. The event was given a green light by the Israeli military despite the fact the area is still technically a closed military zone. Several hundred people showed up, including government ministers and Knesset members.

The atmosphere at the two-day conference was festive, marking the Sukkot harvest celebration: there was singing and dancing, and popcorn and candy floss. The area was awash in the blue and white of the Israeli flag, and most of the men attending carried pistols or rifles.

Adults took part in planning sessions in which speakers pointed out strategic areas on maps of Gaza, or milled about stands representing rightwing political parties and the Jewish supremacist group Lehava. Children enjoyed a puppet show and petting zoo.

“We plan to take what we have acquired in the years of settling Judea and Samaria and to do the same thing here in Gaza,” Nachala’s chair, Daniella Weiss, a veteran of the settler movement, told those attending, using the Israeli nomenclature for the occupied West Bank.

“I want to tell you now, that in less than a year, you can call and ask me: ‘Did you succeed in fulfilling your dream?’ And the answer will be yes … Each of you will witness how Jews go to Gaza and Arabs will disappear from Gaza.”

The Palestinian population of Gaza would “go to different countries of the world,” she said, without elaborating on how or why.