An American official said that Israel presented to us the issue of the “buffer zone,” while stressing that Washington opposes every plan to reduce the area of Palestinian lands.

Israel informed Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Jordan, of its intention to create a “buffer zone” in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war according to Reuters, citing Israeli sources.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Israel intends to establish a “buffer zone” and take security control of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war.

A senior Israeli security source said, "Israel wants to establish a buffer zone from northern to southern Gaza in order to prevent terrorists, Hamas, and others from infiltrating and attacking it."

He pointed out that "the buffer zone is being examined, and it is not clear how deep it is, whether it is a few meters or hundreds of meters."

An American official stated that Israel presented to us the issue of the “buffer zone,” while stressing that Washington opposes every plan to reduce the area of Palestinian lands.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, "We do not support reducing the geographical area of the Gaza Strip. It must remain Palestinian territory and its area cannot be reduced."

In addition, Israel informed the mediators of its intention to return to an agreement with the Hamas movement, which stipulates a one-day truce in exchange for the release of women and children hostages from the Gaza Strip. As reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (“Kan 11”) on Friday evening.

The broadcasting organization quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying, “There is an Israeli interest in returning to a one-day truce in exchange for the release of women and children who are still detained in the Gaza Strip.”

Israeli projections indicate that the chance of achieving a truce tonight is slim, while officials said that "the fighting continues with full force, while returning to a truce agreement may take between two to four days."

This comes after Israel rejected Hamas's proposal to release the bodies of hostages as part of the eighth batch of prisoner exchange that was scheduled today, which led to the end of the truce and the resumption of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

According to Israeli reports, Hamas refuses to release the women hostages and requests moving to another agreement that includes the release of the male hostages. This was rejected by Israel, which wants to complete the release of all its women hostages.

Source: arab48