Netanyahu’s Plan for Gaza Future: Security, Governance, and Controversy

2024-02-27 08:02:19

On Thursday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed for the first time his plan for the day following the war in Gaza, his official proposal for the fate of the Palestinian enclave where his country is fighting a war with the Palestinian Islamist movement. Hamas that leaves thousands of civilians dead. The project, rejected by several of his allies, has been described by the Palestinian Authority as an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.

In the document, presented to the war cabinet for approval and published by the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu recalled the short-term objectives: destroy the military capabilities and government infrastructure of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, free more than 100 hostages and prevent Gaza from being a threat once more.

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Netanyahu did not give details on how long that phase would last, but he conditioned the reconstruction of devastated Gaza on its complete demilitarization.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting in Kirya, December 31, 2023. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / AFP).

Military occupation “without time limit”

According to the plan, Israel will establish a demilitarized Gaza Strip, whose security depends on the Jewish State and in which the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) will not exist, among other objectives.

According to Netanyahu, in the medium term his country will have complete freedom of military movement within Gaza “without a time limit.”

He also talks regarding having a security buffer inside Gaza to protect Israel.

Israeli forces “will exercise security control in the entire area west of Jordan, including the Gaza Strip,” “to prevent the strengthening of terrorist elements” and contain “threats once morest Israel,” the document underlines.

Netanyahu foresees “the total demilitarization of Gaza”, except for the material required to maintain order, as well as the “deradicalization of all religious, educational and social institutions” in the strip.

This photograph taken from Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows an Israeli soldier sitting in an armored personnel carrier on February 26, 2024. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP).

Border control with Egypt

Israel would not only control the border it currently has with Gaza, but also the border of the Palestinian enclave with Egypt, to prevent the reappearance of “terrorist elements” in the Palestinian enclave. This is a significantly new and different proposal, and would work on the ground inside Gaza.

The Gaza border with Egypt. (AFP).

“The ‘South Fence’ will operate, to the extent possible, in cooperation with Egypt and with the assistance of the United States, and will be based on measures to prevent smuggling from Egypt, both underground and by air, including the Rafah crossing ”Details Netanyahu’s document.

A new administration in Gaza

Regarding the administration of the territory, Netanyahu maintains that it will be handed over to “local officials with management experience” and “without ties to countries or entities that support terrorism.”

On February 22, an Israeli official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, stated that his country’s government is seeking to recruit Palestinians without ties to Hamas to manage civil affairs in areas of the Gaza Strip designated as testing grounds. , for the future administration of the territory following the ongoing hostilities conclude.

“The prime minister’s document of principles reflects a broad public consensus on the objectives of the war and to replace the Hamas government in Gaza with a civilian alternative,” Netanyahu’s office later confirmed.

Displaced Palestinians receive food aid at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) center in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on January 28, 2024. (Photo from AFP).

No to a Palestinian State and dismantling of UNRWA

In the long term, Netanyahu insisted on the rejection of the creation of a Palestinian state or of “international dictates on a permanent agreement.”

Netanyahu’s plan also calls for the dismantling of UNRWA, following Israel accused several of its employees of involvement in the bloody Hamas attack on October 7.

“Israel will work to stop UNRWA activities in the Gaza Strip and replace them with responsible international aid agencies,” the plan details.

Although the UN organization removed those suspected of involvement and launched an investigation, the Israeli authorities have not publicly disclosed the evidence of their accusation.

According to a CNN report, there are points in the plan that actually undermine the idea of ​​a two-state solution or the path to a Palestinian state. Without that goal, it will be difficult for Israel to attract the Arab partners discussed in the plan to help finance and support this new day following in Gaza.

After that attack, on October 7, Israel declared war on Hamas and began attacking Gaza, in an offensive that has so far left more than 29,800 dead in the Palestinian enclave, most of them civilians.

The reactions of the Palestinians and Israel’s allies

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu’s plan “seeks to perpetuate the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.”

“Gaza will only be part of the independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital (…) If the world is really interested in having security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and recognize the independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as capital,” he added.

“Netanyahu is putting forward ideas that he knows full well will never succeed,” said Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures during a press conference in Buenos Aires on February 23, 2024. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP).

For his part, Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States, Israel’s main ally, rejected any Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip or a reduction of its territory.

“There are certain basic principles that we established many months ago and that we believe are very important when it comes to the future of Gaza, including that it cannot be a platform for terrorism, there should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza, the Gaza’s size should not be reduced. Therefore, we want to make sure that any plan that emerges is consistent with those principles,” Blinken said.

While Joseph Borrell, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, also rejected Netanyahu’s plan.

“On Wednesday, at the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, everyone sitting around the table, the Americans, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Member States, the Arab countries, the African people, the Latin Americans, everyone They insisted that the only possible peaceful solution that might bring peace and security for Israel is the two-state solution. “I did not hear a single voice once morest it,” said Borrell.

Avi Melamed, former Israeli intelligence officer and expert in Arab affairs, told the Efe agency that the only way to advance the process is within a regional plan with the intervention of the main Arab actors, to facilitate the Israelis to feel “really at the table.”

According to Melamed, with the “reduction” and “limitation” of Hamas’s role, the Islamist group will no longer be able to dictate its political agenda.

“I believe that under such conditions and circumstances there is room for this regional advancement and that the conflict provides a scaffolding for Israelis and Palestinians to move forward in a very gradual process,” he said.

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