Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday he wanted his country to have “total security control” over the Gaza Strip following the ongoing war in this Palestinian territory.
“After eliminating the military and governmental power of Hamas in Gaza, Israel will exercise total security control over Gaza with complete freedom of action,” he wrote on X, specifying that it was “( his) personal position.
Mr. Katz explained that governance of the Gaza Strip should be “exactly like Judea and Samaria”, the name Israel gives to the West Bank, Palestinian territory it has occupied since 1967.
Future governance in Gaza has been the subject of speculation for months in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, as well as within the international community.
Mr. Katz's predecessor, Yoav Gallant, was strongly opposed to any lasting Israeli control of the Gaza Strip after the war.
“I will not accept the establishment of an Israeli military administration in Gaza, Israel must not have civilian control over the Gaza Strip,” he declared in May while calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to make commitments in this direction.
With AFP
