Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel’s military will continue to have security control in Gaza with “full freedom of action” after defeating the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the enclave.
“In response to various publications, my position on Gaza is clear. After we defeat Hamas’s military and governmental power in Gaza, Israel will have security control over Gaza with full freedom of action, just as it did in Judea and Samaria [also known as the West Bank],” Katz posted on X/Twitter.
“We will not allow any terrorist organization against Israeli communities and Israeli citizens from Gaza,” he added. “We will not allow a return to the reality of before Oct. 7.”
The statement came after Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that Katz had told a senior US official in a meeting that Israel “does not want military control or civilian governance over the residents of the Gaza Strip.”
He also reportedly said that no decisions had been made regarding the establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza, the neighboring enclave that Hamas ruled with an iron fist before the terrorist group led an invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
Israel responded to the onslaught, in which Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped over 250 hostages, with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the captives and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
According to several reports, an agreement to halt the Israel-Hamas war and free hostages still in Gaza could be finalized this month.
Katz told Israeli lawmakers in a closed-door meeting in parliament on Monday that Jerusalem is “closer than ever” to reaching a ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Both Hamas and US officials have expressed similar sentiments this week.
“We believe — and the Israelis have said this — that we’re getting closer, and no doubt about it, we believe that, but we also are cautious in our optimism,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told Fox News in an interview. “We’ve been in this position before where we weren’t able to get it over the finish line.”
For months, the US, Egypt, and Qatar have unsuccessfully tried to broker a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between the two sides. However, stalled negotiations have recently been revived, and officials seem to be optimistic that a breakthrough possible.
One of the key questions surrounding post-war planning is how exactly Gaza will be governed once the fighting stops.
