Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday the country will maintain military control over the Gaza Strip after the war is over, giving the Israeli army freedom to operate there, but will not govern it.
Briefing the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Gallant said, “After the war, when it’s over, I think it’s completely clear that Hamas won’t control Gaza. Israel will control militarily but won’t control it in a civilian sense.”
The defense chief's comments came in response to a slate of remarks by far-right members of Israel's coalition government who have called for Israel to take control of the Gaza Strip. Some have called for the reestablishment of settlements in the Palestinian enclave from which Israel fully withdrew in 2005.
At a far-right gathering in Jerusalem on Sunday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who heads the far-right Jewish Power party, called on the government to adopt a policy of encouraging the emigration of Gazans out of the enclave and for Jewish settlers to resettle the Gush Katif villages in northern Gaza.
