Israel’s Netanyahu conditions Gaza’s reconstruction on disarmament

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Israel will not allow Gaza’s reconstruction to take place before it is disarmed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Tuesday.

His remarks came during a press conference at his office in West Jerusalem a day after the announcement of the recovery of the remains of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last of the 251 hostages taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 by the Palestinian group Hamas and its allies.

Netanyahu has long used the issue as justification for not implementing the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan for the Palestinian enclave.

On Monday, the Israeli army recovered Gvili’s remains after examining 250 bodies in a cemetery in northern Gaza.

“We are now focused on achieving the two remaining objectives together: disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza. There are only two options — the easy path or the hard path — and we will not allow the reconstruction of Gaza before it is disarmed,” said Netanyahu.

On the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, he said: “We agreed to open the crossing for individuals only and in limited numbers, and everyone entering or leaving will be subject to Israeli inspection.”

Amid speculation that the US could launch an attack on Iran, which might prompt retaliation, Netanyahu said: “If Iran makes a grave mistake and attacks Israel, we will respond with a force it has never seen before.”

Netanyahu on Tuesday canceled a security briefing with opposition leader Yair Lapid on Iran and Gaza, citing his busy schedule, according to Israeli media.

On holding elections on schedule and passing the budget bill amid a crisis with ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim), Netanyahu said: “That is what I hope for and what I am working toward. The last thing Israel needs right now is elections.”

The Haredi parties in Israel’s Knesset have refused to vote on the budget bill before the passage of a conscription law exempting members of their community from military service.