An Israeli Minister Describes Post-Conflict Preparations for Gaza

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has presented ideas for how Gaza would be run if Israel and Hamas’ conflict is over.

He declared that Palestinian authority over the region will be restricted.

He said that Israel would maintain total security control and that Hamas would no longer be in charge of Gaza.

The Hamas-run health ministry reported that numerous individuals had died in the preceding 24 hours due to fighting in Gaza, which persisted concurrently with the plan’s release.

This week marks US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s return to the area. He is anticipated to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank.

His arrival coincides with an increase in regional tensions brought on by the Tuesday killing of prominent Hamas figure Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon. Israel has been heavily accused of killing him. Israel has not acknowledged nor refuted its involvement.

Gaza’s overall security would remain under Israel’s jurisdiction, as per Mr. Gallant’s now-failed “four corner” plan.

Following Israeli bombardment that caused massive destruction, the task of restoring the territory would fall to a multinational force.

Under the concept, Egypt’s neighbour would likewise have an undefined role to play.

However, the paper also states that Palestinians would be in charge of governing the region.

“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 stated.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has not made any public comments about the idea and it was not covered in length during the cabinet meeting. Acrimony is said to have broken out at the meeting as certain ministers furiously objected to names being submitted for a probe into the circumstances surrounding Hamas’ strike on October 7.

There is a great deal of debate in Israel over talk of the “day after” in Gaza.

Right-wing members of Mr. Netanyahu’s administration have suggested that the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza and the encouragement of Palestinian citizens to flee their homeland are controversial ideas that have been dismissed as “extremist” and “unworkable” by other nations in the region as well as by some of Israel’s allies.

Although some of his cabinet colleagues may have suggested more radical ideas, Mr. Gallant’s plans are sure to face resistance from Palestinian officials who insist that after this horrific war is over, Gazans should be given the freedom to govern the enclave themselves.

Mr. Netanyahu has not discussed in public his views on the governance of Gaza in any detail.

With the declared objective of totally dismantling Hamas, he has hinted that the conflict in Gaza would still drag on for several months.

The next phase of the Israeli military’s war in Gaza is included in Mr. Gallant’s strategy as well.

According to him, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would adopt a more focused strategy in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including air and ground strikes, raids, and tunnel demolition.

He stated that the Israeli forces would keep searching for Hamas commanders in the south and working to free Israeli hostages.

The IDF stated on Thursday that it had struck locations in Gaza City and Khan Younis, as well as the northern and southern regions.

It claimed to have carried out attacks on “terrorist infrastructure” and to have killed individuals it identified as militants who attempted to set off an explosive near soldiers.

It also declared that Mamdouh Lolo, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, had been killed in an airstrike.

According to the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, 125 people have died throughout the Strip in the last 24 hours.

According to a health ministry official, Israeli airstrikes in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, claimed the lives of fourteen people, nine of whom were children.

Israeli forces have declared the small town a “safe space” for Palestinian refugees. Regarding Hamas’s assertions, the IDF has remained silent.

“We were asleep at midnight when a strike hit the camp on the tents, 4×2 tents where people were sleeping, most of them children,” reported Reuters news agency from an eyewitness in the area, Jamal Hamad Salah. “We found one body there that flew 40 metres away.”

“There is nowhere safe in Gaza,” declared Jason Lee, the national director for the occupied Palestinian territory for the humanitarian organisation Save the Children. “Camps, shelters, schools, hospitals, homes and so-called ‘safe zones’ should not be battlegrounds.”

By Thursday, more than 22,400 people had died in Gaza since Israel began its retaliatory campaign, accounting for about 1% of the 2.3 million residents of the enclave, according to the health ministry run by Hamas.

Israel’s offensive began on October 7, when gunmen from Hamas carried out a surprise attack in southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and kidnapping approximately 240 more.