Israeli Troops Will Defense In Gaza, Lebanon And Syria Without Time Limit

Israeli Military in Gaza Strip, Palestine (Source: IDF)

JAKARTA - Israeli Defense Minister Katz said on Wednesday Israeli troops would remain in the so-called security zones in the Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria Strips indefinitely.

The statement is considered to further complicate ceasefire talks and the release of hostages with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"Unlike before, (the Israeli military) did not evacuate the areas that had been cleared and captured," Israel's Defense Minister Katz said in a statement.

Israeli troops are known to have taken over more than half of Gaza's territory in a new campaign to pressure Hamas to release hostages after Israel ended their ceasefire last month.

Israel also refused to withdraw from several regions in Lebanon after a ceasefire with militant group Hezbollah last year, and seized a buffer zone in southern Syria after rebels toppled President Bashar Assad in December.

The military "will remain in the security zone as a buffer between the enemy and the community (Israel) in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza such as in Lebanon and Syria," he said.

Palestinians and their two neighboring countries regard the presence of Israeli troops as military occupations that violate international law.

Meanwhile, Hamas said it would not release the remaining dozens of hostages without Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire.

"They promised that the hostages would take precedence. In practice, Israel chose to seize territory before the hostages," the main organization representing the hostages' families said in a statement.

"There is one desired and feasible solution, namely the release of all hostages as well as part of the deal, even at the expense of ending the war," he said.

Israel says it must maintain control of what it calls a security zone to prevent a repeat of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which thousands of militants stormed southern Israel from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 people, according to Israeli calculations.

Gaza's health authorities confirmed on Tuesday that the death toll from Palestine had reached 51,000, while injuries reached 116,343, the majority of women and children, quoted from WAFA.

Israeli land bombings and operations have left most of the region uninhabitable, with about 90 percent of its 2 million population displaced.

Many have fled repeatedly, and hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into slum tent camps, with food supplies running low after Israel closed humanitarian aid since March 2 to pressure the Hamas group to accept a ceasefire proposal from the United States.