There will be no reconstruction of the Gaza Strip until after the area is demilitarized and tunnels constructed by Hamas are destroyed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
He also warned Iran not to attack Israel, threatening that if the Islamic Republic did so, Israel “would respond with a force that Iran has never experienced before.”
Netanyahu said he is determined to implement the US-driven peace plan, which calls for the disarmament of Hamas. He repeated that this could be done “the easy way or the hard way. But in any case it will happen.”
The Palestinian Islamist group has so far rejected disarmament.
The coastal strip was largely destroyed in the war between Israel and Hamas, which started after Hamas invaded Israel on October 7. 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage. Israel then launched a massive attack on Gaza which has left the territory in rubble.
The Israeli prime minister also reiterated that Israel would retain security control over Gaza but gave no details.
As part of the second phase of the peace plan, Israel’s army is to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and gradually hand areas held so far over to an International Stabilization Force (ISF).
Iran warning
The Israeli leader said a potential Iranian strike on Israel would be a “grave mistake.”
Amid speculation about a possible new US strike in Iran and mutual threats between the countries, there are currently major concerns about a military escalation in the region.
During the 12-day war in June last year between Israel and Iran, Israel bombarded targets from the air together with the US, while Iran’s forces fired ballistic missiles at Israel.