Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told US officials last week that he and the Israeli military will not allow the rebuilding of Israeli communities inside the Gaza Strip, Axios reported, citing US and Israeli officials.
According to the report, during a meeting with Gallant, US Ambassador Jack Lew and US Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs David Satterfield asked whether the planned buffer zone along the Israel-Gaza border was a basis for building Jewish communities. They stressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken's public remarks that rejected any change in the territory of Gaza and opposed any harm to civilian infrastructure.
Gallant committed that he would not allow the rebuilding of communities in Gaza and stressed the buffer zone would be temporary and for security purposes only.
The report adds that Oded Basyuk, the head of the IDF Operations Branch, said at the meeting that the IDF would not allow Israeli civilians to enter the buffer zone because it would contradict the security purpose, a senior Israeli official said.