Israel joins a “buffer zone” in Gaza

Israel agreed to the creation of a buffer zone on the border with the Gaza Strip, despite clear American opposition to the reduction of the Strip’s area.

Mark Regev, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said yesterday (Saturday) that Israel will not allow a situation where Hamas members are on the border of the Gaza Strip. Regev took questions from reporters when they asked him about the reality of creating a buffer zone on the border despite opposition from Washington.

Israel wants to establish a buffer zone, but its depth is not yet clear. Israeli sources have reported that a detailed plan is being prepared to establish a buffer zone after the destruction of Hamas and the disarmament of Gaza. Officials confirmed that the depth of the buffer zone that Israel intends to establish in the Gaza Strip is unclear, and that it could reach one to two kilometers or hundreds of meters inside Gaza. The sources confirmed that Netanyahu informed US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken of the buffer zone and that “Israel will take control of the security of the Gaza Strip after the war.”

The Israeli position regarding the security buffer zone within the Gaza Strip comes despite American opposition, confirmed by US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday, which is based on the refusal to reduce the area of ​​the Strip. While in Dubai attending the climate conference, Harris spoke about the need to reach security arrangements acceptable to Israel and regional partners and the role of the Palestinian Authority in the future management of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Israel has announced the withdrawal of the Mossad delegation present in Doha for negotiations on the exchange of hostages and prisoners with the Hamas movement, in the context of the emergence of the Israeli female soldier complex, while Tel Aviv calls for their release as women, while Hamas claims they are soldiers, which… Paralyzed efforts to extend the armistice and exchange prisoners.

This came as the occupation army concentrated its intense raids in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, for the first time since the start of the war, after attacks had previously been concentrated in the north. The Israeli army has carried out hundreds of raids in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, setting up rings of fire in areas of the south that were supposed to be safe. Added to this was the division of the Strip into small residential squares, in contrast to the old plan according to which the army operated, which was based on the division of the Strip into two parts, north and south.

Sources from the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli attempts were detected from the direction of Kissufim, northeast of Khan Yunis, towards the “Al-Mahathin” roundabout, but fierce resistance thwarted it .