Israelis won’t be able to rebuild settlements in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority won’t be able to control the enclave, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN on Tuesday night.
“Resettling Gaza,” Netanyahu said, “that was never in the cards.”
Just last week National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the construction of Israeli settlements in Gaza and the voluntary emigration of Palestinians from the enclave.
Israel has destroyed 21 Gaza settlements when it withdrew from the enclave in 2005. The Gaza war has sparked a renewed call on the Right for Israel to re-occupy Gaza.
Netanyahu on Tuesday night clarified on CNN that while Israel would need to retain security control of Gaza to prevent the resurgence of terrorism, there were no plans to re-occupy it.
Netanyahu told CNN he has been clear about his opposition to building settlements in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s vision for peace
“I said so openly. Some of my constituents are not happy about it, but that’s my position,” he stated.
Netanyahu also dismissed the possibility that the Palestinian Authority could control Gaza once the war was over and Hamas no longer ruled the enclave, which it had forcibly seized in 2007 when it ousted Fatah from the Strip.
The PA still teaches its children to seek the destruction of the Jewish state and provides monthly stipends to terrorists jailed by Israel for killing civilians, he said.
“I want a different future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” he said.
Both Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz have taken Netanyahu to task for failing to provide a plan for what happens in Gaza once the war is over and Hamas is defeated.
Netanyahu told both CNN and ABC that he hada very clear plan, that focused on local civilian rule and the reconstruction of Gaza with the help of Arab stat es.
“I have a very clear plan,” but the first is, “We have to get rid of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
After that, he said, “I want a [demilitarized] civilian administration that is run by Gazans” who are not part of Hamas nor committed to Israel’s destruction.
“I would have a reconstruction of Gaza, if possible, done by the moderate Arab States and the international community,” Netanyahu explained.
“I think it is a realistic plan,” he added.
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