2023-11-07 21:50:00
Washington (CNN)– The White House maintained Tuesday that it does not believe Israeli forces should reoccupy Gaza, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments that Israel will have “overall responsibility for security” in Gaza for an “indefinite period” once it is over. war.
“The president continues to believe that a reoccupation of Gaza by Israeli forces is not good. It is not good for Israel, it is not good for the Israeli people,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on “CNN “This Morning”.
“One of the conversations that Secretary (Antony) Blinken has had in the region is what Gaza would be like after conflict. What does governance in Gaza look like? Because, whatever it is, it cannot be what it was on October 6 “It can’t be Hamas,” he added.
The recent warning from the White House comes after Netanyahu told > on Monday that Gaza should be governed by “those who do not want to follow the path of Hamas” before adding: “I believe that Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall responsibility for safety because we have seen what happens when we don’t have it.
This is one of the first clues Netanyahu has given about his vision for post-war Gaza, which would distance itself from the US perspective, including President Joe Biden’s own statements about what the enclave’s future would look like.
In an interview last month with program “60 Minutes” from CBS, Biden stated that it would be a “big mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza. At the time, Michael Herzog, Israeli ambassador to the United States, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Israel has no intention of occupying Gaza once the conflict ends.
Other sharp differences between the United States and Israel have emerged in recent weeks as the war continues. Last week, Blinken pressured the Israelis to take a “humanitarian pause” to allow hostages and civilians out of Gaza and aid in for the Palestinians, but was rebuked by Netanyahu.
And despite Blinken’s forceful public letter that “civilians should not suffer the consequences of (Hamas’s) inhumanity and brutality,” Israeli forces continued to attack places where there are civilians after the visit of the senior American diplomat. The forces claimed the sites were being used by Hamas.
Israeli government officials have not yet provided details on how Gaza would be governed if Hamas is eliminated.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared this Tuesday that Israel “will retain complete freedom of action to respond to any situation in Gaza” once the war ends. Gallant said that “at the end of this ‘campaign,’ Hamas, as a military organization or governing body in Gaza, will cease to exist.” Gallant’s comments were published on the Ynet news website.
“There will be no threat to Israel’s security from Gaza, and Israel will retain complete freedom of action, to respond to any situation in Gaza that represents any type of threat,” Gallant is heard saying in the Ynet recording of a meeting of Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Commission.
The United States and its Western allies have been telling their Israeli counterparts for weeks that they must have clear objectives in degrading Hamas and must try to avoid a long-term occupation of Gaza.
US officials had previously told CNN that they did not have a clear idea of Israel’s intentions in Gaza and believe it will be difficult to completely eradicate Hamas.
Despite apparent differences between his administration and the Israeli government, Biden reiterated his support for Israel during a call with Netanyahu on Monday, Kirby said.
“One of the things that the president made clear to the prime minister is that we are going to continue to support Israel. We are going to continue to make sure that they have the security help that they need, the tools, the weapons and the capabilities to go after Hamas. This has not changed since October 7 and will not change in the future,” Kirby said.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Hagi Cohen-Boland, Stephanie Halasz, Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis, Oren Liebermann, Kareem El Damanhoury and Mitchell McCluskey, all contributed to this report.
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