© AP / Jose Luis MaganaAnti-war activists protest outside of the White House in Washington, November 4, 2023
The White House has expressed alarm over the possible "reoccupation" of Gaza, after Israel's prime minister indicated that his country's forces would have "overall security responsibility" in the area following the conflict with Hamas.
Asked to weigh in on the long-term plans for Gaza during an interview with CNN on Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby urged Israel to reconsider a lengthy military deployment.
"The president still believes that a reoccupation of Gaza by Israeli forces is not good. It's not good for Israel; not good for the Israeli people," Kirby said without elaborating.
"One of the conversations that Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken has been having in the region is what does post-conflict Gaza look like? What does governance look like in Gaza? Because whatever it is it can't be what it was on October 6. It can't be Hamas."
The warning comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News that his country would have to take "security responsibility" in Gaza for an "indefinite period" after the current war with Hamas.
Though the prime minister did not share details about the plans for the enclave, his comments appear to contradict statements by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who previously stressed that Israeli troops must not be responsible for "day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip."
Netanyahu adviser Mark Regev later told CNN that Israel is "not talking about any sort of ongoing occupation of the Gaza Strip." While he explained there would be an Israeli "security presence" in the area, he said "that doesn't mean that Israel is there to govern the Gazans."
The White House has vocally supported Israel's military action in Gaza, but voiced skepticism over a new occupation of the territory, with President Joe Biden saying the decision would be a "big mistake." Asked who should govern the area at an earlier press briefing, Kirby said officials "don't have all the answers to that."
Israel first occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, and only withdrew its troops and settlers nearly 40 years later. It has maintained a tight blockade over the enclave in the years since, and has launched periodic bombing campaigns against Hamas since the group took control of Gaza in 2006.
The latest round of fighting erupted last month when Hamas launched a surprise attack, killing around 1,400 Israelis. Since then the IDF has carried out weeks of retaliatory airstrikes and gradually escalated a ground attack on Gaza, leaving more than 10,000 Palestinians dead, according to local officials.
Reader Comments
Here is a link that refers to what you put forth.
Covid Chess ZugZwang? - by Andreas Oehler
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They imagined that "anti-Semitism" and "terror" would be their green light for "holy war" with Iran and Islam. They did not see the splintering of their Woke minions. Yes they have shot themselves in the foot. Hopefully they bleed to death soon.
Ukrainian NazisUkrainian soldiers can tranfer skills to help out too, no?Meanwhile citizens have departed, but not all of them willingly. I predict much HIGHER troop losses proportional for the IDF. I suspect it will exceed 60% casualties when all is said and done.
Very difficult to know with this one, but I suspect the IDF aren't going to achieve much without putting themselves through the meat mincer.
When the Ukraine Special Operation kicked off, though not easy, it was eas ier to get a handle on things, mainly 'cause Russian intelligence reports were so straight up and to the point. Despite the fact the Ukraine propaganda factory was set to eleven 24/7, I think that particular war fog is starting to pale into insignificance with the current one.
South Front is a good channel, but aside from the obvious go-to's (the two Alexes at The Duran, etc) I would definitely welcome anyone else's recommendations for decent intelligence sites in the above regard.
I'd hoped he'd do more on Israel/Palestine but still mainly Ukraine, unfortunately...[Link]
I don’t question anybody’s courage to die for a cause, but it just seems proven that defense is so much easier.