Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has laid out his vision for a post-war Gaza.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to his vision, Israel would control security indefinitely, and Palestinians with no links to groups hostile to Israel would run the territory.
Although the US, Israel’s major ally, wants the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern Gaza after the war, the short document Netanyahu presented to ministers last night makes no mention of the PA.
He has previously ruled out a post-war role for the internationally backed body.
The Israeli PM envisages a “demilitarised” Gaza; Israel would be responsible for removing all military capability beyond that necessary for public order.
There would be a “Southern Closure” on the territory’s border with Egypt to prevent smuggling both under and overground.
And “de-radicalisation” programmes would be promoted in all religious, educational and welfare institutions. The document suggests Arab countries with experience in such programmes would be involved, though Netanyahu has not specified which.
According to the document, under the plan, Israel would also maintain security control over the entire area west of Jordan from land, sea and air.
The Israel PM has been under pressure at home and internationally to publish proposals for Gaza since he began his military operation.
Netanyahu is keen to restore a crumbling reputation as a leader who can keep Israel safe and will want to appeal to right-wing hardliners in his coalition government.
A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA, said Netanyahu’s plan was doomed to fail.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, “If the world is genuinely interested in having security and stability in the region, it must end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and recognise an independent Palestinian state.”
Netanyahu repeated his rejection of any unilateral recognition by Western countries of a Palestinian state.
On Friday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was opposed to any reoccupation of Gaza by Israel as well as any reduction in the size of the territory.
Blinken at a G20 ministers meeting in Argentina, said, “Gaza… cannot be a platform for terrorism. There should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza. The size of Gaza territory should not be reduced.”
Meanwhile, negotiators trying to broker a temporary ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages are expected to meet in Paris.
The US wants a deal in place before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in just over a fortnight.
And, as the humanitarian situation worsens in Gaza, there is international pressure too for the war to end. The Hamas-run Ministry of Health reports that more than 29,500 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since the war began in October.
Israel’s military offensive was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on 7 October in which gunmen killed about 1,200 people – mainly civilians – and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.
