Israeli forces will remain in Gaza for years, says food minister

The Israeli military will remain in Gaza for many years fighting against fresh Hamas recruits in the territory, and could be responsible for delivery of humanitarian aid there, a senior Israeli minister has said.

- Jason Burke

The comments by Avi Dichter, Israel's minister for food security and a member of the Israeli security cabinet, confirm an emerging picture of a long-term deployment of Israeli troops inside Gaza, with no immediate plan for any other administration to govern the territory's 2.3 million people and begin reconstruction.

"I think that we are going to stay in Gaza for a long time. I think most people understand that [Israel] will be years in some kind of West Bank situation where you go in and out and maybe you remain along Netzarim [military corridor]," Dichter said.

Reservists who recently served in Gaza have described to the Guardian the scale of the new military infrastructure built in the territory by Israel. This includes extensive new camps and roads across a swath of northern and central Gaza.

One recently demobilised officer said he had spent much of the previous 70 days demolishing houses to clear more ground for what had become a series of big military bases in Gaza's Netzarim corridor, a military zone that has been established between the Mediterranean coast and Gaza's eastern perimeter fence.

"That was the only mission. There was not a single construction left that was taller than my waist anywhere (in the corridor), except our bases and observation towers," he said.

The witness accounts confirm reporting by Israeli media of extensive construction by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Netzarim corridor and elsewhere in Gaza.