LONDON: Israeli troops detained several settlers on Thursday after they crossed a security barrier near the Gaza Strip border and entered a restricted “buffer zone,” the military said.

According to the Israeli military, the group crossed the barrier and entered an area between the border fence and the embattled Palestinian enclave, Israeli media reported. Troops detained the settlers and returned them through the fence. Their motive was not immediately clear.

The military said the settlers did not enter Gaza itself. Israel’s border fence is located several dozen meters inside Israeli territory, leaving a restricted strip between the fence and Gaza’s boundary.

The area is separate from the so-called Yellow Line, a ceasefire-era military demarcation inside Gaza.

Established after the October 2025 Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, the Yellow Line divides the territory into western and eastern sections. Most of Gaza’s Palestinian population is concentrated in the western area, while Israeli forces control the eastern section.

The line initially left about 47 percent of Gaza available to Palestinians, but Israeli forces have gradually moved it westward, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

As of Sept. 12, Palestinians were living on less than 40 percent of Gaza’s land area, the UN said. The shifting restrictions have displaced families living near the line and heightened fears among those who remain.

About 2.1 million people, or nearly Gaza’s entire population, are displaced and living within the area west of the Yellow Line. Many families remain on alert, concerned they could again be forced to flee if the security situation changes, according to the UN.

Finding safer places for displaced people has also become increasingly difficult, the UN said, because much of the land suitable for camps lies in prohibited or restricted areas east, south and north of the Yellow Line.