ASHDOD, Israel

Extremist Jewish settlers in Israel continued on Monday to block humanitarian aid going into the Gaza Strip.

The group of settlers gathered near Ashdod Port, roughly 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) north of the Gaza Strip , where most of the over 2 million Palestinian inhabitants are grappling with a deepening humanitarian crisis, including hunger, lack of clean water, and inadequate shelter.

As Israeli police stood by, the settlers stopped trucks departing from the port, checking documents and inspecting cargo to determine their contents and destination.

One of the settlers, a Jewish resident of Jerusalem, said he came with his family to stop the trucks from supplying oxygen to Palestinian resistance group Hamas in Gaza.

"Gaza is a state. It's land, it's a country. All the Gaza people, from our side, are terrorists," said the settler, Sharon, who declined to provide a last name.

Despite warnings by human rights groups and aid agencies that a "humanitarian catastrophe" is taking place in Gaza, Sharon alleged that the aid, which includes food and fuel, goes to Hamas.

"Why should we send food and fuel to Gaza? It's not normal ... It's not normal that in our land, those people are shooting us," he added.

Sharon claimed that after Hamas' cross-border attack against Israel on Oct. 7, people in Gaza went out "to the streets and danced.

"They weren’t sad about what happened. Islam didn't like us. Okay. So now it's time to pay."

Asked about calls in Israel to establish illegal Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, Sharon said, "We will be really happy if there will be settlements in Gaza ... Gaza was a Jewish city 2,000 years ago, 500 years ago."

Extremist Jewish settlers have been organizing protests to obstruct humanitarian aid sent to the Gaza Strip for Palestinian residents facing hunger, lack of clean water, and shelter.

According to a survey by Israeli Channel 12 television, 72% of Israelis oppose sending humanitarian aid to Gaza without the return of Israeli captives from the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing at least 27,478 Palestinians and injuring 66,835 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.