Netanyahu presented post-war plan for Gaza

(Patria) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday presented his first official plan for the Gaza Strip "the day after" the war ends.

Netanyahu stated that Israel will retain security control over the Palestinian territories, and that the reconstruction of destroyed areas will depend on demilitarization, reports RSE.

Palestinians rejected the plan

The plan, which combines a series of known Israeli positions, emphasizes Netanyahu's resistance to the creation of a Palestinian state, which he sees as a security threat, without explicitly ruling out the possibility of such a state in some future phase.

Palestinian officials rejected Netanyahu's plan, calling it doomed to failure.

"When it comes to 'the day after' in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu is presenting ideas that he knows very well will never succeed," Hamas official Osama Hamdan told reporters in the Lebanese capital.

The document, which was forwarded to members of the security cabinet as a basis for discussion, not as a program, proposes that Israel retain security control over all territories west of the Jordan River, including the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip – areas where Palestinians want to have an independent state.

The plan was presented amid intense international calls to end the fighting that has destroyed large parts of the Gaza Strip and to revive efforts to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

US President Joe Biden, Israel's main ally, has said that only a two-state solution can bring lasting peace and that he is engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts to build support among regional and other countries.

Hours after the plan was presented, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is contrary to international law, indicating a return to the long-standing US policy on the issue, which was changed by the previous administration of Donald Trump.

"Gaza... cannot be a platform for terrorism. There should be no Israeli re-occupation of Gaza. The size of Gaza's territory should not be reduced," Blinken stated in Buenos Aires, where he attended a meeting of G20 foreign ministers.

In the stated long-term goals, Netanyahu rejected the "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state, and said that a solution with the Palestinians will only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides, without specifying who the Palestinian side will be.
"Demilitarization and de-radicalization"

For Gaza, he proposes that Hamas's administrative control be replaced by local representatives "not affiliated with terrorist countries or groups," setting demilitarization and de-radicalization as goals to be achieved in the medium term.

The plan does not elaborate on when this intermediate phase will begin, nor how long it will last, but it makes the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, large parts of which were destroyed in the Israeli offensive, conditional on the complete demilitarization of the area.

Yesterday, attempts also continued to achieve a pause in the fighting to allow for the return of some of the 134 hostages held by Hamas, ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins in March.

Israeli ministers said that if an agreement is not reached, Israel will launch a long-awaited operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge.

Human rights lawyer and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Zaha Hasa believes that Netanyahu's plan, if implemented, will leave Palestinians in Gaza completely dependent, without hope of achieving their national aspirations.

"This is clearly not the plan that the Biden administration has been discussing with Arab governments," she said.

The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas emphasizes that Netanyahu's proposal, as well as all other Israeli plans aimed at changing the geographical and demographic reality in Gaza, are doomed to failure.

"If the world is truly interested in security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and recognize an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," said spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudejneh.

To ensure control over the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu proposes that Israel be present on the Gaza-Egypt border in the south of the enclave and cooperate with Egypt and the US in that area to prevent smuggling attempts, including at the Rafah crossing.

The plan also calls for the closure of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which Israel has repeatedly accused of providing cover for Hamas, and its replacement with other international humanitarian groups.