JERUSALEM

The Israeli army said Thursday that it had arrested seven illegal Jewish settlers for attempting to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip to perform prayers.

According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, around 40 illegal settlers performed prayers near the border with Gaza and attempted to cross through the Erez crossing into the Palestinian enclave.

Israel’s Army Radio said seven settlers were arrested for questioning, and 20 others were deported from the area.

Early this week, the Israeli army declared several areas in southern Israel near the border with Gaza a “closed military zone” amid plans by Israeli right-wingers to stage a march into the Palestinian enclave.

Last week, Knesset member Limor Son Har-Helech called for the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed over 40,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,400 others, according to local health authorities.

Over 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara