Israel Won’t Withdraw From Security Zones, Defense Minister Says

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the army intends to remain indefinitely in areas of strategic import in Gaza and elsewhere along its frontiers.

People walking amid tents set up next to the rubble of destroyed buildings at the Jabalia camp for displaced Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on April 8, 2025. Bashar Taleb/AFP

Israel’s defense minister said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will remain in what Israel calls security zones indefinitely in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria.

“Unlike in the past, the [Israeli military] is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on April 16.