Israel may have ‘security responsibility’ for Gaza for ‘indefinite period’ after war ends, Netanyahu says

Israel may govern Gaza for an “indefinite period”, after the war ends, prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahuhas suggested in aninterview with the US’ ABC News.

Noting that US President Joe Biden had previously said it would be a “mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza, interviewer David Muir asked Netanyahu who should govern the territory when the fighting ends.

The prime minister suggested Israelwould have a role to play for an “indefinite period.”

Those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas … It certainly is not – I think Israel will, for an indefinite period will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it. When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine.

Last month, Israel defence minister Yoav Gallant said one key objective of Israel’s military campaign was to sever “Israel’s responsibility for life in theGazaStrip” and establish a “new security reality for the citizens of Israel.”

The US has also suggested the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, could take charge in Gaza while others have suggested a consortium of Arab states could take responsibility.

Asked about Netanyahu’s comments, US national security council spokesperson John Kirby said:

What we support is that Hamas can’t be in control of Gaza any more.

We are having conversations with our Israeli counterparts about what governance in Gaza should look like post-conflict and I don’t believe that any solutions have been settled upon one way or the other.