IDF will be responsible for Gaza security after conflict, says Netanyahu

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be responsible for security in the Gaza Strip after the conflict with Hamas is over.

Netanyahu made the remarks at a press conference in Tel Aviv in response to a question about his plan for Gaza once the conflict comes to an end.

"There will be demilitarisation," he said. "The IDF will be responsible for security in the Gaza Strip because there is no other factor that will ensure the fight against terrorism, and I can tell you that there will be a civil governance that does not educate its children to destroy Israel."

It is clear from this that Israel has no plans to end its occupation of Gaza or cede control to a Palestinian authority in the region.

Netanyahu also said at the press conference that once Hamas is 'destroyed', Israel will focus on its own northern region, where almost 100,000 Israelis are currently displaced from their homes.

He added that there would be a 'diplomatic situation' on the northern border or a 'different way' to solve the situation.

It remains to be seen how neighbouring nations respond to any overtures, diplomatic or otherwise from Israel. Its northern border is shared with Lebanon, and the conflict in Gaza had almost immediately spilled over on that side.

The current scale of retaliation in Gaza for the 7 October Hamas attacks has certainly not disposed the leadership of adjacent countries—Syria and Jordan to the East, Egypt to the South—too kindly towards Israel.

There was also a question on Netanyahu declining a few days ago to send the head of Israel's Mossad to talks in Qatar for a new hostage deal. In response, the prime minister said he won't "make the mistake of telling Israel's enemies about its considerations" and Israel is negotiating with the enemy via "blood, fire and pillars of smoke".

With IANS inputs