US says Israel will “likely” retain security control in Gaza after war

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – As the IDF continues to fight the Hamas Palestinian terror group in Gaza, the Biden administration has announced that Israel is “likely” to retain security control of the Strip once the war is over, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack massacre of 1,400 mostly civilian Israelis, Israel’s stated aim is to eradicate the terror group’s infrastructure and to remove it from power in Gaza.

At the start of the war, Israeli officials had said Israel had no interest in maintaining any kind of presence in Gaza. However, two days ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would have to maintain “overall security responsibility of Gaza for an “indefinite period,” TOI reports.

Despite US officials stating their opposition to continued Israeli control over Gaza, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement Wednesday: “I think all of us can foresee a period of time after the conflict is over where Israeli forces will likely still be in Gaza and will have some initial security responsibilities.”

“But for how long and where and to what size and scale and scope, I think it’s too soon to know,” Kirby added.

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