According to three regional sources, Israel related its plans to its neighbours Egypt and Jordan, along with the United Arab Emirates, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020.
He declined to offer details when asked whether those plans had been raised with international partners, including Arab states.
A U.S. official, who declined to be identified, said Israel had "floated" the buffer zone idea without saying to whom.
The regional sources compared the Gaza buffer zone plan to the "security zone" Israel once had in south Lebanon.
"The buffer zone could make (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's forces a target also in the zone," he said.
Persons:
Ronen, Israel, Abu Dhabi, Ophir Falk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Lebanon's, it's, Mohammad Dahlan, Benjamin, Netanyahu's, Samia Nakhoul, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Jonathan Saul, Dan Williams, Aidan Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk, Steve Holland, Edmund Blair, Daniel Flynn
Organizations:
REUTERS, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Saudi, Reuters, U.S, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, Palestinian Fatah, Thomson
Locations:
Gaza, Gaza Israel, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, U.S, DUBAI, CAIRO, LONDON, Israel, Riyadh, Arab Turkey, Qatar, Qatari, Turkish, Palestinian, Cairo, Lebanon, PLO, Dubai, London, Jerusalem, Washington