FAR-RIGHT Israeli cabinet ministers and other MPs were among hundreds of protesters marching towards Gaza on Sunday to call for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlement affairs, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and more than two dozen other ministers and legislators took part in the march, according to Israeli media reports.

The marchers defied a military order that restricted their route over concerns that some protesters planned to cross the fence into the Palestinian territory.

The protest is the latest manifestation of growing calls on the Israeli far right for the re-establishment of settlements on Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party was listed among the rally’s sponsors, despite his claims that there was no intention to resettle the territory.

Earlier, the Israeli army designated the surrounding area a closed military zone for 24 hours, saying this was intended to prevent marchers from crossing into Gaza.

The protest, organised by a settler group called Nachala, was dubbed the March of Thousands, although Israeli media reports estimated the crowd at only a few hundred.

Nachala leader Daniella Weiss has long called for Israel to resettle Gaza.

Speaking at a recent Likud conference, Ms Weiss claimed that Palestinians would “disappear” from the territory.

Marching under the slogan “returning home after 21 years,” they demanded the reconstruction of Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit, three settlements evacuated when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Mr Ben-Gvir posted a video on social media of himself on the march with the caption “Gaza is ours.”

Mr Smotrich called on Israelis not to miss an “historic opportunity” to rebuild settlements in the territory.

In December, a group of Nachala activists briefly crossed into Gaza and planted an Israeli flag before soldiers brought the far-right activists back across the fence.