'We're staying for a long time': Israeli cabinet minister says military to remain in Gaza for years

The Israeli military would stay stationed in Gaza for years to come, a cabinet minister said on Friday. After successfully brokering the Israel-Hezbollah truce, the US is now working on putting the Gaza ceasefire into effect.

Things, however, might not change in terms of military deployment even after Israel reaches a ceasefire with Hamas,  Avi Dichter, Israel’s minister for food security and a member of the Israeli security cabinet indicated.

“I think that we are going to stay in Gaza for a long time. I think most people understand that [Israel] will be years in some kind of West Bank situation where you go in and out and maybe you remain along Netzarim [corridor],” he said.

The Israeli military’s prolonged presence in Gaza will ensure to thwarting of Hamas’ fresh recruits and streamline food and aid transfer in the region, Dichter said.

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Is Israel building bases in Gaza?

The Guardian documented statements of eyewitnesses who say the Israeli military is constructing massive infrastructure in Gaza.

This development includes a network of large camps and roads spanning significant portions of northern and central Gaza.

A recently discharged officer revealed that much of the past 70 days had been spent demolishing houses to create additional space for a network of large military bases in Gaza’s Netzarim corridor, a militarized zone stretching from the Mediterranean coast to Gaza’s eastern perimeter fence.

“That was the only mission. There was not a single construction left that was taller than my waist anywhere (in the corridor), except our bases and observation towers,” he said.

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Who will run Gaza after the war?

The plan for post-war Gaza that Israel pitched to U.S. allies is to run the strip in cooperation with powerful local families.

A major pillar of the plan, according to public statements from leading Israeli officials, was to shape an alternative civil administration involving local Palestinian actors not part of the existing structures of power and willing to work alongside Israel.

However, the only plausible candidates in Gaza for this role – the heads of powerful local families – are unwilling to get involved, according to Reuters’ conversations with five members of major families in Gaza, including the head of one grouping.

With inputs from agencies