A staging area near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, on November 1, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
‘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.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
During ceasefire talks with Qatar in late November, two anonymous Egyptian sources told Reuters that Israel discussed establishing a protective buffer zone after the Gaza war.
The information was shared with Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.
The source explained, “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.”
Representatives from most of the Arab nations reportedly disagreed with the idea, as most have objected strongly to Israel’s military actions in Gaza in response to the October 7th massacre, citing the unverified 15,000 Gazan casualties, as Hamas has claimed.
However, according to one source, the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, said they would back any solution “agreed upon by all concerned parties.”
The news that Israel is planning a buffer zone is consistent with a plan Israeli Prime Minister revealed to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Netanyahu told Blinken that he planned to establish a buffer zone “deep” into Gaza.
However, the Biden Administration cautioned that it wouldn’t agree to any plan that would reduce the size of Gaza and that it supports a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority ruling Gaza after the war as a step towards a two-state solution.
President Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that the Palestinian Authority will govern Gaza after the war.
An Israeli official described the buffer zone idea to The Times of Israel on Friday.
“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.”
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