Why are ignored files removed when I merge?

Question

linux

There is a repository (locally) - the entire site on WordPress. Over time, the engine files were removed from the index and added to gitignore. All this is on the development branch. I merge the master branch with the development branch - only the files that git tracks are left in the workspace. But I need everything) How do I decide that git does not touch files outside its index and that are added to gitignore during merges?

Answer 1

The fact is that they were deleted in the development folder and Git, when merged, performs the same action in the master branch.
You need to add them back to the folder, but so that they are immediately ignored, then Git will not do anything with them.