Israel defence minister vows to stay in Gaza, establish outposts

JERUSALEM - Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Dec 23 that Israel would remain in Gaza and pledged to establish outposts there, but his office swiftly downplayed the remarks made at a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

In comments reported across Israeli media, Mr Katz said Israel “will never leave” the devastated Palestinian territory.

His remarks come as a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
holds in Gaza.

Mediators are pressing for the implementation of the next phases of the truce, which would involve an Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

Speaking at an event in the Israeli settlement of Beit El in the occupied West Bank, Mr Katz said: “We are deep inside Gaza, and we will never leave Gaza – there will be no such thing.

“We are there to protect, to prevent what happened (from happening again),” he added, according to a video published by Israeli news site Ynet.

He also vowed to establish outposts in the north of Gaza in place of settlements that had been evacuated during Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the territory in 2005.

“When the time comes, God willing, we will establish in northern Gaza, Nahal outposts in place of the communities that were uprooted,” he said, referring to military-agricultural settlements set up by Israeli soldiers.

“We will do this in the right way and at the appropriate time.”

Mr Katz’s remarks were slammed by former minister and chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, who accused the government of “acting against the broad national consensus, during a critical period for Israel’s national security”.

“While the government votes with one hand in favour of the Trump plan, with the other hand it sells fables about isolated settlement nuclei in the (Gaza) Strip,” he wrote on X, referring to the Gaza peace plan brokered by US President Donald Trump.

The next phases of Mr Trump’s plan would involve an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the establishment of an interim authority to govern the territory in place of Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilisation force.

It also envisages the demilitarisation of Gaza, including the disarmament of Hamas, which the group has refused.

On Dec 18, several Israelis entered the Gaza Strip in defiance of army orders and held a symbolic flag-raising ceremony to call for the reoccupation and resettlement of the Palestinian territory. AFP