Israeli officials said that their country is working to "ensure its security to leave no room for any attack" from the Gaza Strip, similar to what happened on October 7, according to what the American New York Times reported.

The newspaper reported on Wednesday that the assumption here is that Israel “will control the Gaza Strip until new arrangements are made to govern the Strip and carry out patrols in it, which may take a long time.”

This comes after statements by US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on Wednesday, in which he stressed that “there will be no reoccupation of Gaza after the end of the current conflict,” adding that there may be a need for a “transitional period,” but after the current crisis, the Palestinians must govern the Strip. , according to Reuters.

This came after statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he said, on Monday, to the American ABC News network, that Israel “will assume responsibility for security in Gaza indefinitely.”

The New York Times also quoted Israeli officials as saying, “Israel will never fully trust any Palestinian forces or even international peacekeeping to maintain Israel’s security,” in reference to the Gaza Strip.

The officials explained that “Israel’s priority is security,” and that it will continue to maintain what it says is “operational flexibility,” which means the ability to enter Gaza at a time when it feels its security is “at risk.”

The officials also added to the newspaper: “Israel intends to create a new buffer zone inside Gaza, which logic says may include an area on the Egyptian border, and give Israel full control over Gaza’s land borders.”

Israel controls all the crossings into the Gaza Strip except the Rafah land crossing on the Strip’s border with Egypt, through which humanitarian aid currently enters.

The newspaper also pointed out that officials talked about "dividing the Gaza Strip into areas like those in the West Bank, where Israeli forces have the freedom to carry out operations, in supposed cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, in areas under its control."

On Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh told the BBC network that the Palestinian Authority “is ready to be part of a solution in the Gaza Strip that deals with the Palestinian issue and the issue of the occupation.”

He continued: "Israel's primary goal is to kill every future possibility of establishing an independent, sovereign Palestinian state," and stressed: "We will not go to Gaza on board an Israeli army tank."

Source: Alhurra