According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), several Israeli protesters stormed into the Palestinian coastal area during a demonstration at the Erez border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Thursday, dpa and Agerpres reported.

About a hundred protesters gathered at the crossing from the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military confirmed in response to a request after several Israeli agencies reported the incident.

“This afternoon (Thursday), about a hundred protesters arrived at the Erez checkpoint. About 20 protesters violated IDF instructions, forced their way through the checkpoint manned by IDF soldiers, and crossed the border zone from Israeli territory in the Gaza Strip to a checkpoint adjacent to the border.” .

According to reports, the demonstrators were radicalized Israeli settlers, some of whom managed to advance about 500 meters deep into the Gaza Strip before the IDF was able to stop them.

Soldiers were following the group of protesters during the incident before they were eventually returned to Israel and handed over to police, the army said.

Videos circulating on social media show demonstrators armed with boards trying to set up a temporary settlement on the other side of the border crossing while inside Israeli territory.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and evacuated more than 20 Israeli settlements. With the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, radical settler activists intensified their demands for the resettlement of Israeli settlers in the coastal zone.