Israeli minister outlines plans for Gaza after war
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has presented proposals for the future administration of Gaza after the resolution of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
According to the plan, there would be restricted Palestinian governance in the area, with Hamas losing control, and Israel maintaining overall security authority.
Despite the publication of the proposal, ongoing fighting in Gaza resulted in numerous casualties within the preceding 24 hours, as reported by the Hamas-affiliated health ministry.
As the region grapples with increased tensions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to return this week, with scheduled discussions with both Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank and Israeli leaders.
The visit follows the recent assassination of top Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon, an act widely attributed to Israel, though Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
Under the “four corner” plan outlined by Minister Gallant, Israel would retain comprehensive security control in Gaza, while a multinational force would be responsible for the reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the extensive damage caused by Israeli airstrikes.
The plan also envisions an undefined role for neighboring Egypt.
However, the document emphasizes that Palestinians would have the responsibility of managing the day-to-day affairs in the territory.
“Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against the State of Israel,” Mr. Gallant said.
The plan was not discussed in any detail in the cabinet meeting and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on it.
The meeting is reported to have broken up amid acrimony with some ministers angrily objecting to names put forward for an investigation into the events surrounding the 7 October attack by Hamas.
Talk of the “day after” in Gaza has led to deep disagreement in Israel.
Some far right-wing members of Mr Netanyahu’s government have said that Palestinian citizens should be encouraged to leave Gaza for exile, with the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in the territory – controversial proposals that have been rejected as “extremist” and “unworkable” by other countries in the region and by some of Israel’s allies.
While Mr. Gallant’s proposals may be regarded as more practical than those suggested by some of his cabinet colleagues, they are likely to be rejected by Palestinian leaders who say that Gazans themselves must be allowed to take full control of running the territory once this devastating war is over.
Mr Netanyahu has not publicly talked in any detail about how he thinks Gaza should be governed.
He has suggested that the war in Gaza may yet last several months, with the avowed goal being to completely crush Hamas.
Mr Gallant’s plan also outlined how the Israeli military aims to proceed in the next phase of the war in Gaza.
He said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would take a more targeted approach in the north of the Gaza Strip, where operations will include raids, demolishing tunnels, and air and ground strikes.
In the south, the Israeli military would continue to try to track down Hamas leaders and rescue Israeli hostages, he said.
On Thursday, the IDF said it had hit areas in Gaza’s north and south, including Gaza City and Khan Younis.
It said it had conducted strikes on “terrorist infrastructure” and had killed people whom it described as militants, who it said had tried to detonate an explosive next to soldiers.
It also announced that it had killed a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative, Mamdouh Lolo, in an air strike.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 125 people had been killed in the past 24 hours across the Strip.
A health ministry official said 14 people – including nine children – were killed by Israeli air strikes in al-Mawasi, to the west of Khan Younis.
The small town has been designated a “safe space” by Israeli forces for displaced Palestinians. The IDF has not commented on the claims made by Hamas.
“We were sleeping at midnight when a strike hit the camp on the tents, 4×2 tents where people were sleeping, most of them children,” eyewitness Jamal Hamad Salah told Reuters news agency. “We found one body there that flew 40 meters away.”
“There is nowhere safe in Gaza,” aid agency Save the Children’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jason Lee, said. “Camps, shelters, schools, hospitals, homes and so-called ‘safe zones’ should not be battlegrounds.”
The total number of people killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s retaliatory campaign had reached more than 22,400 by Thursday – comprising almost 1% of the enclave’s 2.3 million population, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Israel’s offensive started after Hamas gunmen launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 240 people hostage.