Israeli soldiers will remain in the Gaza Strip after the end of hostilities. This was stated by senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Mark Regev.

“When this is over and we defeat Hamas, it is extremely important that there is no resurgent terrorist element, a resurgent Hamas. There is no point in doing this and just going back to square one. The presence of Israeli security forces is necessary,” CNN reports the words of Mark Regev.

According to him, the presence of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip does not mean that the Israeli army will re-occupy the territory. “We will not be there to govern the people of Gaza,” the adviser concluded