Israeli troops will remain in the buffer zones they have created in Gaza even after any end to the war with Hamas, Israel’s defence minister said on Wednesday, in remarks that could complicate efforts to revive a truce in the enclave.
Israel broke a two-month-old ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group last month, with troops resuming their offensive, seizing new tracts of land across the enclave, and again displacing hundreds of thousands of residents.
The zones Israel now holds include extensive land along Gaza’s borders, as well as the so-called Netzarim Corridor that separates the north and south, and a new buffer zone in the south. Altogether, they account for 30 per cent of Gazan territory, according to the Israeli military.