A senior Israeli official says that he "does not see a situation in which Israel does not assume responsibility for security in the Gaza Strip," pointing to the Israeli government's determination to permanently deploy reinforced forces in the Gaza Strip, including doubling the security budget.

A senior Israeli political official said, this evening, Sunday, in a briefing to the Israeli media, that the occupation authorities intend to control the Gaza Strip after the war they have been waging for 30 days on the besieged Strip.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (“Kan 11”) indicated that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to postpone talks with the administration of US President Joe Biden until the day after the Israeli war on Gaza, but it has begun to outline an Israeli plan.

This came in the wake of a press briefing given by Netanyahu to political correspondents in the Israeli media, noting that the senior official whose statements were circulated in the Israeli media is Netanyahu himself.

The broad outlines of the Israeli plan include "security control over the Gaza Strip, increasing the number of army forces permanently deployed in the region, and increasing security budgets."

"Kan 11" indicated that the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galant, and the member of the "War Cabinet", Benny Gantz, support "the continuation of Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip in the future."

The Israeli media quoted the Israeli official as stressing in the press briefing that, “I do not see a situation in which Israel does not bear the highest security responsibility in the Gaza Strip.”

The official added, "It is not enough to reconstruct Gaza. It must be subjected to the process of removing Nazi ideas. This culture (the desire to kill Jews) still exists in the Palestinian Authority," as he put it.

Considering that "the talk is not about the occupation of the Gaza Strip, even in 'Zok Eitan - Protective Edge' (the war on Gaza in 2014) no member of the cabinet voted in favor of the occupation of the Gaza Strip."

Lebanon Front

The Israeli official ruled out "the possibility of an invasion from the north" and said that these possibilities had declined, considering that "Hezbollah will not be able to penetrate the border areas due to the readiness and preparedness of our forces."

"Kan 11" reported that the Israeli leadership believes that Hezbollah "wants to avoid a comprehensive war, but wants to continue border skirmishes," explaining that "Israel's main goal is to prevent the outbreak of a simultaneous war in the north and in Gaza."

The official considered that an "overwhelming victory over Hamas" would allow the return of residents of the evacuated Israeli border towns in the north of the country, and said that the Israeli army would strengthen the deployment of its forces in the border areas.

He stressed that the occupation army "will be prepared differently for the threat of breaching the border, and not just for the possibility of combat cells infiltrating border settlements."

Prisoner negotiations

The official said that the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, is responsible for communications with the Qatari side as part of the mediation efforts made by Doha to reach an agreement that allows the release of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

The responsible source denied that the former head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, was involved in these talks, and said that Cohen offered his services to the prime minister at the beginning of the battle, and Netanyahu instructed him to work under the leadership of the current Mossad head.

The official considered that working on two parallel axes on this file might “complicate matters,” noting that Cohen conveyed a message from an Arab leader addressed to Netanyahu at the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip.

No ceasefire

Regarding the allegations promoted by the military and political leadership in Israel that the ground operation in the Gaza Strip will put pressure on Hamas and push it to a deal to release the hostages, the official said: “We see something that has not yet matured.”

The official explained that the position of the Israeli side is that "even if there is a ceasefire in exchange for the return of the hostages, it will be temporary and Israel will continue military action with the aim of defeating Hamas."

He said that Israeli estimates indicate that most of the prisoners and hostages are “alive,” noting that the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades had announced the killing of more than 60 Israeli prisoners as a result of the bombing in Gaza.

No fuel for the Gaza Strip

The official said that he refuses to bring fuel into the Gaza Strip, and added, "They want fuel for hospitals. I refused. I asked world leaders to send ships here to establish a field hospital in a safe place."

He continued, "The recovery left 120 wounded. We have to manage this intelligently. With God's help, we will not have to supply them with fuel."