Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would take responsibility for the ‘overall security’ of Gaza after its conflict against Hamas recedes.
The United States said on Tuesday that it opposes any “reoccupation” of Gaza by Israel after the Israeli leader suggested that his country would take control of security in Gaza after its conflict against Hamas recedes.
During a press briefing on Nov. 7, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said the United States does not support “any forced relocation” of Palestinian people outside of war-torn Gaza.
“Our viewpoint is that Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions, and Gaza is Palestinian land and it will remain Palestinian land,” Mr. Patel told reporters.
“And generally speaking, we do not support reoccupation of Gaza, and neither does Israel. [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] was fairly clear about that during his travels as well,” he added.
Mr. Patel said that Washington, however, agreed with Israel that “there is no returning to the Oct. 6 status quo”—before Hamas launched terror attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, killing over 1,400 people and taking more than 200 others hostage.
“Israel and the region must be secure, and Gaza … can no longer be a base from which to launch terror attacks against the people of Israel or anyone else,” he stated.
Mr. Patel added that the Biden administration is actively working with partners “on interim governance, security parameters, and security situations in Gaza” for when the Israel-Hamas conflict recedes.
This came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would take the “overall security responsibility” of Gaza for an “indefinite period” to ensure its freedom from Hamas’ terror.
Mr. Netanyahu believes that Gaza should be governed only by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas,” and such a government won’t be able to stand without the backing of Israeli firepower, he said.
“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,” the Israeli leader added.
