US opposes Israeli plans for 'buffer zone' inside Gaza Strip

The US rejected on Tuesday plans by Israel to establish a "buffer zone" within the Gaza Strip and said such a proposal is at odds with the Biden administration's stated policy.

"We do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way. We won't support that," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the White House.

Kirby declined to outline any diplomatic conversations the US has had with Israel about the matter, but emphasized that Washington has "been very clear and consistent, both in private and publicly, that we do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way."

Israel has since December been moving toward the establishment of its more than half-mile "buffer zone" inside Gaza along the border with Israel, destroying buildings in the area to make way for the corridor.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces were ambushed while attempting to demolish two buildings in central Gaza's Maghazi refugee camp, killing 21 troops and injuring several more. Maghazi is located just across the border from Israel.

The attack is the single deadliest for Israeli forces since the war began in October. A rocket-propelled grenade fired by a Hamas fighter set off a chain reaction of Israeli mines, prematurely setting them off and collapsing the buildings with Israeli troops still inside.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has elicited furor in Egypt after saying publicly that Israel wants to take control of the border area between Gaza and Egypt. Netanyahu said Saturday the 8.7-mile (14-kilometer) strip, which is known in Israel as the Philadelphi Corridor, "must be in our hands."

Diaa Rashwan, the chairman of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), said Cairo would consider any attempt by Israel to occupy the area as a "violation of the security agreements and protocols signed between it (Israel) and Egypt."

"It must be strictly emphasized that any Israeli move in this direction will lead to a serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations," he added.

Nearly 25,500 Palestinians have been confirmed killed in Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. Thousands more are feared dead under the rubble.

The vast majority of Palestinians who have been killed, an estimated two-thirds, are women and children.

Israel began its war in retaliation for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which an estimated 1,200 people are believed to have been killed. Roughly 250 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 100 remain detained in the coastal enclave.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.