According to a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel will build a “security envelope” in Gaza once its force has defeated Hamas. According to Reuters, the Israeli government informed numerous countries about its plans for a “buffer zone” in the Palestinian enclave.
Israel initiated its military assault against Hamas after Palestinian militants staged an unexpected invasion into Israel, murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping hundreds more. The goal of Netanyahu’s war cabinet is to completely eradicate the Islamist group from Gaza. However, no clear image of the enclave’s destiny has emerged.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Mark Regev said that “Israel will have to have a security envelope,” adding that “we can never again allow terrorists to cross the border and butcher our people the way they did on October 7.”
The official hastened to stress that “that is not Israel taking territory from Gaza,” describing the planned arrangement as “common sense.”
According to Reuters, which cited numerous unidentified sources, Israel informed Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey that it intended to establish a buffer zone in Gaza when the hostilities concluded.
On the same day, Israeli TV Kan reported, citing two knowledgeable sources, that Prime Minister Netanyahu had shared the security-envelope plans with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken the day before.
Another senior Israeli security source told Reuters that “it is not clear at the moment how deep this will be and whether it could be one kilometre, two kilometres, or hundreds of metres” inside the Palestinian enclave. Gaza is approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) long and 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) wide at its widest point.
Also on Friday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby made it clear that Washington does not “support any reduction of the geographic limits of Gaza… Gaza must remain Palestinian land, and cannot be reduced.”
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal alleged that President Joe Biden’s administration was discussing with Israel the potential relocation of Hamas militants out of Gaza to end the bloodshed and minimize damage to the Palestinian territory, already ravaged by massive Israeli airstrikes.
According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 15,200 people have been killed in the enclave since early October, with thousands more injured.
