Katz says Israel ‘will never fully withdraw’ from Gaza Strip

Defense Minister Israel Katz walks a careful line amid controversy over his recent comments on building settlements inside Gaza, but vows that Israel will never fully withdraw from the Strip.

“In Gaza, Israel will never fully withdraw — there will be a significant security area inside the Strip, even after we move to stage two [of the peace deal] if Hamas disarms, which will enforce [security] inside Gaza to protect” Israeli communities, Katz says during a conference organized by the Makor Rishon newspaper.

US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan states that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza” and that once the International Stabilization Force is deployed, IDF troops will recede “until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.”

If Hamas doesn’t disarm itself, “we’ll do it,” Katz says. The defense minister asserts that if Israel isn’t in control of the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt for “even one day,” Iran will succeed in sending all sorts of weapons into Gaza.

Katz rejects the assertion that he “reversed” his comments earlier this week calling for settlements inside Gaza, saying that “reverse is something I only do when driving.”

He suggests that his “vision” for Gaza to be carried out “in due time” includes the establishment of Nahal pioneer groups in the northern Gaza Strip — an ambiguous reference to the military units that several decades ago established outposts that later evolved into full-fledged settlements.

Katz claims that “people sought to interpret my words as announcement of the establishment” of settlements inside Gaza, and that they were not intended that way.