Israel reportedly wants to establish a Gaza buffer zone after war with Hamas

The Israeli government has reportedly informed its Arab neighbors and the United States that it seeks to establish a protective buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip when the war with the Hamas terror organization is over. The purpose of the buffer zone would be to prevent any future terror attacks from Gaza into the Jewish state.

“Israel wants this buffer zone between Gaza and Israel from the north to the south to prevent any Hamas or other [terrorists] from infiltrating or attacking Israel,” an unnamed Middle Eastern source revealed.

Aside from briefing the U.S. Biden administration on the buffer zone issue, Jerusalem also revealed its post-war intentions during talks with regional players, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

Arab officials reportedly opposed Israel's plans to potentially establish a buffer zone to separate the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip.

While Arab governments have been vocal in their criticism of Israel's defensive military measures in Gaza against the Hamas terror group, with the exception of Bahrain, most Arab governments, have refrained from publicly condemning Hamas as being responsible for the lethal destruction of lives both in Israel and in Gaza.

An unnamed Israeli security official informed The Times of Israel that the “security establishment is talking about some kind of security buffer on the Gaza side of the border so that Hamas cannot gather military capabilities close to the border and surprise Israel again.”

“It is a security measure, not a political one. We do not intend to remain on the Gaza side of the border,” the official emphasized.

Such an arrangement, however, would nevertheless reduce Gaza’s sovereign territory, something that the Biden administration opposes.

“We don’t support any reduction of the geographic limits of Gaza… Gaza must remain Palestinian land, and cannot be reduced,” White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby emphasized during a press briefing on Friday.

In October, U.S. President Joe Biden stressed that Israel should dismantle the Hamas terror organization but not rule the Gaza Strip after the war.

“I think that... it would be a mistake to... for Israel to occupy... Gaza again. But going in, but taking out the extremists, the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south... is a necessary requirement,” Biden stated at the time.

Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have stressed that Israel does not seek to control Gaza in the long term. However, in November, the prime minister also said the Palestinian Authority (PA) could not be allowed to rule the Gaza Strip when the war is over.

“The Palestinian Authority, in its current form, is not able to take responsibility for Gaza. After we fought and did all this, how could we hand it over to them?” Netanyahu asked rhetorically.

In early December, the Israeli premier emphasized Israel’s dilemma, as both Hamas and other regional terror organizations, in addition to the PA, remain opposed to the Jewish state’s existence.

The PA “pays murderers…. They educate their children to hate Israel and, to my sorrow, to murder Jews, and ultimately for the disappearance of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu stated.