US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller affirmed that the US continues to oppose the reoccupation of Gaza, following Gantz’s suggestion that the Israeli military would stay present in the region for years.
The State Department restated that the US “ultimately” wants to see Israel completely removed from Gaza.
That came after former Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz made comments implying that Israel’s armed forces will stay deployed in Gaza for an extended period of time.
“We ultimately want to see Israel fully withdrawn from Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said when asked by Anadolu about Gantz’s comment.
Gantz, the leader of the National Unity party, referred to Yahya Sinwar’s death as a “significant achievement” but emphasized that it does not signal the end of the war after the Israeli military revealed on Thursday that Sinwar had been killed in Gaza.
Gantz stated on X that Israel has to take advantage of Sinwar’s passing in order “to bring back the hostages to replace Hamas’ rule” and that the Israeli military “will continue to operate in the Gaza Strip for years to come.”
“Wishing for this war to end”
In response to the question of whether the United States remains against the reoccupation of Gaza, which was stated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a speech in Tokyo last November, Miller replied, “Of course.”
Miller restated that the United States wants Israel to completely withdraw from Gaza, even if he did not directly address Gantz’s remarks.
Like any other nation, they are entitled to respond to threats from terrorists against their citizens. However, we ultimately hope to see a political solution that creates a Palestinian state that is friendly to Israel, as well as an end to this war and the elimination of the terrorist danger posed by Gaza,” he stated.
“Of course, you wouldn’t want to see and wouldn’t need to see the IDF (military) operating in that environment,” said Miller.
