Will Israel never leave Gaza? The head of the Ministry of National Defense announces a change of plans

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Kac said on Tuesday that for security reasons the military will never completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip. However, he assured that Israel does not plan Jewish settlement there.

The peace plan for the Gaza Strip agreed in October provides that the Israeli armed forces will gradually withdraw from the Palestinian enclave until it is completely abandoned, and Israel will not conduct any civilian settlements there.

– We are deep in the Gaza Strip and we will never leave the entire Gaza Strip. Nothing like that will happen. We are there to protect, to prevent what happened from happening again, Katz said during a meeting with Jewish settlers in the West Bank, referring to the attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023.[yHamasnaIzrael7października2023r

Kac said that “when the time is right, we will also create (…) Nahal groups to replace the displaced communities (Israeli – PAP).” – We are in a period of practical sovereignty. There are opportunities here that have not existed for a long time, he emphasized.

As explained by The Jerusalem Post, Nahal programs, carried out under the auspices of the Nahal Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces, combine social service with military service and are usually conducted in areas where the Israeli government seeks settlement development. Reuters noted that Kac's mention of displaced communities appeared to refer to Israel's withdrawal of all Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Later, Kac partially withdrew his words and in a statement sent to the media, his office explained that “the government does not intend to develop settlements in the Gaza Strip.” (PAP)

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