The Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, stated this Tuesday during a meeting in the settlement of Beit El (near Ramallah, occupied West Bank) that Israel will never withdraw from the Gaza Stripaccording to Israeli media. Shortly after, through a statement, the ministry assured that its owner was referring “solely to a security context.”
In the West Bank, Katz assured that “with God’s help, when the time comes, we will establish Nahal outposts in northern Gaza in place of the settlements that were dismantled.” This, in reference to the 2005 Disengagement Plan, by which Israel abandoned 21 colonies in Gaza in which around 8,000 Israelis lived, and another four in the West Bank.
“We will never leave Gaza, no such thing will happen. We are there to protect, to prevent” May “what happened” happen again in October 2023, he added, when Hamas attacked Israeli territory. Katz elaborated on the topic: “We will do it the right way, at the right time. Some protest, but we are ministers,” he said, according to a video published by the Israeli newspaper Ynet.
The scenario proposed by Katz represents a challenge to the peace plan promoted by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and assumed by both Israel and Hamas. The clarifying statement, according to some Israeli media, was created precisely due to the pressure exerted by the United States. “The (Israeli) government has no intention of establishing a settlement in the Gaza Strip”says the new text.
peace plan
During the event in Beit El, Katz also addressed the Government’s decision, made on Monday, to close the station operated by the Army, Radio Galei Tzahal, which he accuses of having taken on a political tone. “I have ordered that the station’s soldiers be assigned to combat or combat support functions. We are short of soldiers; the vacation is over,” declared the Minister of Defense.
The second phase of the agreement in Gaza includes the total withdrawal of Israeli troopsin addition to the disarmament of the Palestinian militias, the reconstruction of Gaza and the creation of a transitional government. In a first phase, all hostilities had to cease and humanitarian aid should be allowed to enter.
However, Israeli attacks have not stopped completely, and its drones continue to fly over Gaza while troops shoot at Palestinians who they consider are getting too close to the so-called “yellow line.”
Israeli settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians as part of a future state are widely considered illegal by the international community.