Israeli Prime Minister has decided that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will fully occupy the Gaza Strip, given the lack of progress in ceasefire talks and Hamas’s refusal to disarm and to leave the territory willingly.
The Jerusalem Post reported Monday:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a decision for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip, including operations in areas where hostages are held, a source in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
The Prime Minister’s Office conveyed the message to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir: If this does not suit you, then you should resign.
The announcement comes after months of talks in Doha between Hamas, Israel, and mediators to reach a ceasefire-hostage deal.
Occupation would give Israel complete control of movements in Gaza, at the risk of exposure to enemy fire.
The new policy of the Israeli government is sure to draw criticism, but it is also entirely consisted with U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement in February that the U.S. would “own” Gaza, later modified to suggest the U.S. would take over after Israel had done the fighting and cleared Hamas’s terrorists and infrastructure.
Hamas has been emboldened by recent French, British, and Canadian declarations of support for a Palestinian state — which in turn, has helped derail hostage negotiations.
Israel pulled out of Gaza completely in 2005, but has been forced to return in war after war, after Hamas turned the area into a terrorist launching base.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: file
The post Report: Netanyahu Decides on Full Re-occupation of Gaza Strip appeared first on Breitbart.
