White House: Israel's reoccupation of Gaza would be a mistake

2023-11-08 20:33:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was likely that Israel would maintain a military presence in Gaza "for a period of time" after the war ends, but added that the US believed it would be " wrong” for Israel if it were to reoccupy the territory.

"I think all of us envision a period of time after the conflict is over when Israeli forces will likely continue to be in Gaza and have some initial security responsibilities," Kirby told CNN on Nov. 8.

"But for how long and how big [the Israeli forces] will be, I think it's too early to know," he added.

Kirby said the US is focused on designing a long-term governance structure for Gaza once the current conflict ends. But he added that there is still little prospect of a workable plan.

"I think there are a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. "We know what we don't want to see in post-war Gaza, we don't want to see Hamas in control and we don't want to see a reoccupation by Israel," the US official said. He added that the US cannot solve this issue alone, which is why Washington is engaging with regional and international partners on this issue.

A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his country will have "overall security responsibility" in the Gaza Strip indefinitely after the war with the Palestinian Hamas militants ends. Since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking over 200 hostages, Israel has attacked the Gaza Strip from the air and on the ground.

Israel has said it aims to destroy Hamas's governance and military capabilities.

As a result of the conflict, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip - home to 2.3 million Palestinians - according to the Ministry of Health in the territory controlled by Hamas.

Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Israel continued to maintain control of the territory's airspace and coastline. Hamas took power from forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007./ Rel