On video: Gallant: "If the fire stops, the fate of the abductees will be sealed" 01.15.24/Contact
Defense Minister Yoav Galant told senior American officials last week that he and the IDF will not allow the establishment of outposts or settlements in the Gaza Strip, according to four senior American and Israeli officials.
Yoav Galant/Uri Sela
why is it important
The Biden administration is concerned that the buffer zone that the IDF is now establishing within the Gaza Strip will serve as a springboard for settlers to establish outposts or settlements in place of those evacuated in 2005 as part of the disengagement plan.
Concern in the American administration has been growing in recent weeks against the backdrop of increasing public pressure from the settler lobby and from members of the coalition to occupy the Gaza Strip and re-establish the settlements.
Behind the Scenes
The United States Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lowe, and President Biden's envoy for humanitarian affairs, David Satterfield, met last week with Defense Minister Gallant to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip with him, the American and Israeli officials said.
The American officials asked Gallant if the buffer zone that Israel is establishing within the Gaza Strip will be a basis for the establishment of settlements and mentioned the words of Foreign Minister Lincoln about the United States' opposition to any change or reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip.
A senior Israeli and two senior American officials said that Gallant pledged not to allow the re-establishment of settlements in the Gaza Strip and emphasized that the buffer zone is temporary and intended for security purposes only.
The head of the IDF Operations Division, Major General Oded Basiuk, who also participated in the meeting, said that the IDF will not allow Israeli civilians to enter the buffer zone because this contradicts the security rationale for which it was established, according to an Israeli senior official who is aware of the details of the meeting.
The Return of the Settlements Conference in the Gaza Strip/Flash 90, Chaim Goldberg
the situation picture
The White House and the American State Department saw the photos and read the reports about the support conference for the establishment of the settlements in Gaza that took place last night in Jerusalem with the participation of 12 ministers and 18 Knesset members from the coalition - many of them from the Likud party.
Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot condemned the conference, but Prime Minister Netanyahu refrained from doing so and claimed in a statement published on behalf of Likud that the Knesset members and ministers who participated in the event are entitled to freedom of expression.
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Yoav Galant
Gaza Strip
Gaza war
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United States