Katz again vows Israel ‘will never fully withdraw’ from Gaza Strip, eyes outposts

Days after walking back remarks on establishing settlements in Palestinian enclave, defense minister asserts he didn’t ‘reverse’ his position, still wants military pioneer sites

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday again insisted that Israel will never fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip and hinted at establishing outposts in the enclave, days after he sparked controversy by saying that he wanted to rebuild settlements in the northern part of the Strip

Katz appeared to be trying to walk a careful line after he had retracted his earlier comments and earned a rebuke from Washington.

“In Gaza, Israel will never fully withdraw — there will be a significant security area inside the Strip even after we move to stage two [of the peace deal] if Hamas disarms,” Katz said during a conference organized by the Makor Rishon newspaper, adding that it was necessary to protect the Israeli communities that were overrun during the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.

His repeated insistence that Israel will stay in Gaza is at odds with US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which halted the Gaza war.

The plan states that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza” and that once a planned International Stabilization Force is deployed to take responsibility for the enclave’s security, IDF troops will recede “until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.”

The US is pushing for those steps, which form part of the second stage of the ceasefire, to begin soon.

If Hamas doesn’t disarm itself, “we’ll do it,” Katz said.

The defense minister also asserted that if Israel relinquishes control of the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt for “even one day,” Iran will succeed in sending all sorts of weapons into Gaza, referring to the Islamic Republic’s support for terror groups in the enclave.

Katz rejected the assertion that he had “reversed” his comments earlier this week calling for settlements inside Gaza, saying that “reverse is something I only do when driving.”

He suggested that his “vision” for Gaza, to be carried out “in due tim,” includes the establishment of Nahal pioneer groups in the northern Gaza Strip — a reference to the military units that several decades ago established outposts that later evolved into full-fledged settlements.

Katz claimed that “people sought to interpret my words as an announcement of the establishment” of settlements inside Gaza, and that they were not intended that way.

On Tuesday, Katz pledged that Israel would “never leave” the Gaza Strip and would resettle the northern part of the enclave, in defiance of commitments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump.

He later hastily walked back his remarks.

A chorus of far-right voices in Netanyahu’s coalition have called on Israel to rebuild settlements in Gaza in the wake of the war launched by Hamas. Israel evacuated all of its settlements in Gaza, and withdrew all of its troops, under the 2005 Disengagement Plan. Under the current ceasefire, it controls roughly half the enclave.