Israeli Defense Minister Vows No Full Withdrawal from Gaza

Tel Aviv, MINA – Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated on Tuesday that Tel Aviv will never fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip or the occupied Syrian territories, according to a report by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

“We are located deep inside Gaza and we will never leave all of Gaza,” Katz told a press conference at the Beit El settlement near Ramallah in the central West Bank.

He also pledged to establish new military bases in northern Gaza, specifically mentioning the creation of “Nahal units” in place of the Israeli settlements that were evacuated in 2005. Nahal sites are a military program where groups of young Israelis volunteer together, often later forming civilian communities.

Katz praised the current Israeli cabinet as a “settlement” government. His remarks about building in northern Gaza were seen by some settler leaders and opponents as a call for settlement expansion, posing a potential challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. policy ahead of Netanyahu’s expected visit to Washington.

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However, Katz’s office later clarified in a statement that the government does not intend to establish any civilian settlements in the Gaza Strip, asserting that his reference to Nahal outposts was made “solely in a security context.”

Regarding Syria, Katz declared, “We will not move an inch from Syria,” without providing further details. Syrian government data indicates that since December 2024, Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes and cross-border raids into southern Syria.

Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, violating a 1974 agreement with Syria.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)

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