Worthy Christian News > Israel-Palestinian Conflict > Gaza Must Be Demilitarized And Only IDF Can Oversee That, Netanyahu says

Gaza Must Be Demilitarized And Only IDF Can Oversee That, Netanyahu says

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – As he continues to prosecute Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated emphatically Tuesday that the coastal enclave must undergo demilitarization after the current fighting has ended, and that only the Israel Defense Forces can be trusted to oversee that process, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

At a joint press conference with his two war cabinet colleagues, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz, Netanyahu stated that history has shown international forces to be ineffectual in demilitarizing areas that are hostile to Israel, and that he would not risk this happening in Gaza, TOI reports.

“Gaza must be demilitarized,” Netanyahu asserted. “And in order for Gaza to be demilitarized, there is only one force which can ensure this demilitarization – and this force is the Israel Defense Forces. No international force can be responsible for this,” Netanyahu said.

Alluding to the failure of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon to demilitarize the area after Israel’s Second Lebanon War in 2006, Netanyahu explained: “We have seen what has happened in other places where international forces were brought in for demilitarization purposes.

The three ministers together used the press conference to state that Israel’s primary goal is to secure the release of the remaining 138 hostages kidnapped to the Gaza Strip by Hamas on Oct. 7, but that the ground operation was essential to achieve that goal, TOI reports.