Israeli defence minister says troops will remain in Gaza ‘security zones’ indefinitely

Israeli troops will remain in the "buffer zones" established in Gaza even after any settlement to end the war, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.

Israeli military “will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and [Israeli] communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza, as in Lebanon and Syria”.

Since resuming the war last month, Israeli forces have carved out a broad so-called "security zone" extending deep into Gaza, squeezing more than two million Palestinians into ever smaller areas in the south and along the coastline.

In southern Gaza alone, Israeli forces have seized about 20 percent of the enclave's territory, taking control of the border city of Rafah and pushing inland up to the so-called "Morag axis" - a stretch running from Gaza's eastern edge to the Mediterranean Sea, between Rafah and Khan Younis.