Israel Informs Arab States It Wants Buffer Zone in Postwar Gaza, Sources Say - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Israel has informed several Arab states that it wants to carve out a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of Gaza's border to prevent future attacks as part of proposals for the enclave after the war ends, Egyptian and regional sources said.
According to three regional sources, Israel related its plans to its neighbors Egypt and Jordan, along with the United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020.
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They also said that Saudi Arabia, which does not have ties with Israel and which halted a U.S.-mediated normalization process after the Gaza war flared on October 7, had been informed. The sources did not say how the information reached Riyadh, which officially does not have direct communication channels with Israel. Non-Arab Turkey was also told, the sources said.
The initiative does not indicate an imminent end to Israel's offensive, but it shows Israel is reaching out beyond established Arab mediators, such as Egypt or Qatar, as it seeks to shape a postwar Gaza.
"Israel wants this buffer zone between Gaza and Israel from the north to the south to prevent any Hamas or other militants from infiltrating or attacking Israel," said a senior regional security official, one of the three regional sources who asked not to be identified by nationality.
Asked about plans for a buffer zone, Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Reuters: "The plan is more detailed than that. It's based on a three-tier process for the day after Hamas."
Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the southern Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Yunis on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.Credit: Yousef Masoud /AP
Outlining the Israeli government's position, he said the three tiers involved destroying Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza, and de-radicalizing the enclave.
"A buffer zone may be part of the demilitarization process," he said. He declined to offer details when asked whether those plans had been raised with international partners, including Arab states.
A U.S. official, who declined to be identified, said Israel had "floated" the buffer zone idea without saying to whom.
In a briefing on Friday night, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that "We've said many times we don't support a reduction in the geographical limits of Gaza, period. We've also said Israel has a right to protect itself of course, nobody wants to see October 7 happened again."
"We've been very clear through the principles outlined by Secretary Blinken in Tokyo that Gaza should no longer be governed and controlled by Hamas. And, as I said, the territory of Gaza in any future scenario must remain Palestinian land and cannot be reduced, but right now, we're not in a position to speculate on the makeup of future security barriers or structures," he added.
A senior Israeli security source said the buffer zone idea was "being examined," adding: "It is not clear at the moment how deep this will be and whether it could be 1 kilometer or 2 kilometers or hundreds of meters [inside Gaza]."
Two Egyptian security sources said Israel had raised the idea in mediation talks with Egypt and Qatar of disarming northern Gaza and setting up a buffer zone in north Gaza with international supervision.
The sources said several Arab states opposed this. While Arab states might not oppose a security barrier between the two sides, there was disagreement over where it was located, they added.
The regional sources compared the Gaza buffer zone plan to the "security zone" Israel once had in south Lebanon. Israel evacuated that zone, which was about 15 kilometers (10 miles) deep, in 2000, after years of fighting and attacks by Lebanon's Hezbollah.