Washington, United States: On Tuesday, the White House expressed its disappointment towards the plans of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conquer Gaza. This expression has been shared by the United States after PM Netanyahu commented that Israel will be having “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an “indefinite period of time” after the end of the war.
The statement was shared by National Security Council spokesman – John Kirby during CNN This Morning. Kirby said, “The president still believes that a reoccupation of Gaza by Israeli forces is not good. It’s not good for Israel; not good for the Israeli people.”
During the interactive session, he further said, “One of the conversations that Secretary (Antony) Blinken has been having in the region is what does post-conflict Gaza look like? What does governance look like in Gaza? Because whatever it is, it can’t be what it was on October 6. It can’t be Hamas.”
President Netanyahu’s comment
This statement was made by the United States after Netanyahu told ABC News that the territory must be governed by the authorities, which will refuse the way to Hamas. He further added, “I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.”
Reports have claimed that this is one of the first warnings by the US against the vision of Israel’s plan for post-war Gaza.
“A Big Mistake,” says Biden for Israel occupying Gaza
Earlier, President Biden, in an interview with CBS “60 Minutes”, outlined that it would be a “big mistake” if Israel planned to occupy Gaza. However, at that time, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States – Michael Herzog, expressed that the authorities of Israel didn’t plan to occupy Gaza post the conflict.
Last week, Biden pushed Netanyahu for a “humanitarian pause” so that hostages could be freed from Gaza and leave the region to protect themselves. This pause may also assist in allowing aid to enter Palestinians. However, this offer was rebuked by Netanyahu.
On Tuesday, Biden told the reporters in Washington that he failed to get a chance to talk to Netanyahu (today), but he had earlier asked the Israeli Prime Minister to think about the humanitarian pause.
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to him today. I did ask him for a pause in the past –- yesterday. I’m still waiting to hear from other people,” Biden told reporters, according to reports by CNN.
It is to be noted that despite continuous comments by Blinken and the US authorities for the protection of civilians and taking care that “civilians should not suffer the consequences for (Hamas’) inhumanity and its brutality,” Israeli forces have been implanting bombs – taking lives of thousands of civilians.
Comments by the officials of the Israeli government
For now, there is no explanation presented by the government of Israel on how the territory (Gaza) will be governed after their victory against Hamas.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister of Israel – Yoav Gallan outlined that after the end of the war, Israel will “retain complete freedom of action to respond to any situation in the Gaza Strip.”
Gallan mentioned, “At the end of this ‘campaign,’ Hamas, as a military organization or governing body in Gaza, will cease to exist,” according to CNN.
He further continued, “There will be no security threat to Israel from Gaza, and Israel will retain complete freedom of action to respond to any situation in the Gaza Strip that poses any kind of threat.”