A new “occupation” of the Palestinian enclave would be a “big mistake,” according to warnings from Washington.
Following the conclusion of the current conflict with Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that his nation will be responsible for maintaining “overall security” in Gaza for a “indefinite” amount of time.
In an interview with ABC News that was released on Monday, Netanyahu was questioned about Israel’s long-term intentions for the region in the event that it is successful in overthrowing Hamas, implying that a protracted deployment might be necessary.
He stated, “I think Israel will have overall security responsibility [in Gaza] for an indefinite period of time because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.”
“What we have when we don’t have that security responsibility is an unimaginable explosion of terror from Hamas.”
The remarks seem to go against what senior Israeli officials have said in the past.
Israeli military must not be in charge of “day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stressed last month when declaring a significant ground offensive on the Palestinian territory.
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Although the official stated that Israel will create a new “security reality” in the region following the present battle, he hinted that it would try to transfer post-conflict governance to a different entity.
While publicly endorsing Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, Washington has issued a dire warning about the dangers of yet another Gaza occupation. President Joe Biden declared in a recent interview with CBS that the decision would be a “huge mistake.”
“Israel should never occupy Gaza again; that would be a mistake,” he declared. “But it’s imperative to enter and remove the extremists; Hamas is in the south and Hezbollah is in the north.”
In the 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, Israel initially captured Gaza; it did not remove its soldiers and inhabitants until almost 40 years later. Since then, it has kept a strict siege over the enclave and, since Hamas seized over Gaza in 2006, it has periodically carried out bombing assaults against the organisation.
Following a terrorist strike by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of almost 1,400 Israelis, the most recent round of violence broke out last month. Over 10,000 Palestinians have died as a result of the IDF’s weeks-long retaliatory airstrikes and progressively intensified ground assault on Gaza, according to local figures.
