[1andrew1]

Looks like Israel has changed direction and won't be leaving Gaza soon. Surely that won't go down well with the bombed and starved remaining population?

Israel will maintain an indefinite grip over Gaza to ensure its own security, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in his first explicit comments on the country’s plans for the Palestinian enclave after its war with Hamas.

The Gaza Strip should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas”, Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday, without clarifying whether he was referring to the Palestinian Authority, a rival to the militant group, or an international force.

“I think Israel, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it,” he said.

Netanyahu’s comments are among the first on the role Israel intends to play in Gaza after a war he has warned could take months to defeat Hamas. They also reflect changing Israeli policy.

In October, defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would no longer have “responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip” once the war was over. He added that the conflict would create “a new security reality” for Israeli citizens.

https://www.ft.com/content/bdd6b3c7-...7-e6b42504d18d