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Yoav Gallant presented his plan on Thursday evening, according to which there will be “neither Hamas” nor “Israeli civil administration” in Palestinian territory after the fighting ends.
Published on May 1, 2024 7:40 p.m. Updated on May 1, 2024 7:53 p.m
Reading time: 5 mins
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on December 18, 2023 in Tel Aviv (Israel). (ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday, January 4, presented for the first time a post-war plan in Gaza, where Israel continued its bombing and ground operations on Friday. After the October 7 attack on Israeli soil that left nearly 1,200 dead and 250 hostages, Israel vowed to “destroy” the Islamist movement. About a hundred of them were released during a ceasefire in late November. Since then, this war has claimed 22,600 lives in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and minors. This is according to figures released by the Hamas Ministry of Health on Friday, but which cannot be independently verified.
Yoav Gallant's plan, which still needs to be approved by the government, calls for the continuation of Israeli military operations in Gaza until the “return of the hostages”, the “dismantling of Hamas's military and government capabilities” and “the elimination of military threats” .
Several projects regarding the future of the Palestinian enclave after the fall of Hamas are already on the table, most of them supported by the extreme right. These plans, which envisage the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza and the return of Israeli settlers to the enclave, were deemed “provocative” and “inflammatory” by Europeans. This new “day after tomorrow” scenario is being pushed by a more moderate minister. Here's what we know about it.
1 What does the Secretary of Defense's plan entail?
“There will be no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip,” assures Yoav Gallant. Once Israel's goals are achieved, “neither Hamas nor Israel will rule Gaza after the war,” the defense minister promises. According to Israeli daily The Times of Israel, if its plan is implemented, a new Palestinian administration under Israeli control will have to limit itself to day-to-day matters such as “sewage management, electricity, water and “humanitarian aid.” . Palestinian civilians “will be held accountable unless there is a hostile action or threat against the State of Israel,” the minister’s plan says.
Another pillar of this plan: the economic reconstruction of this area with more than 2 million inhabitants. This mission would be entrusted to an international force led by the United States and made up of Arab countries that signed the Abraham Accords and several European countries, according to The Times of Israel.
On the security aspect, Yoav Gallant reiterated that the Israeli army will “maintain its freedom of action” in the Gaza Strip to contain any “possible threat.” “Without borders,” emphasizes the defense minister, quoted by the Israeli news channel i24NEWS. The minister did not say whether the Jewish state would maintain an occupation force or military capacity in Gaza after the fighting ends.
Finally, Yoav Gallant calls for strengthening Israeli-Egyptian cooperation on the border between Gaza and the Egyptian territory of Sinai. This rapprochement between the two countries would aim to “ensure the effective sealing of the Gaza-Egypt border and the control of the import of goods through physical and technological means,” he explains to i24NEWS.
2 Does the Israeli government agree on these proposals?
By ruling out the return of settlers to the Palestinian enclave, the defense minister is angering the Israeli far right. “The plan (…) for the 'day after' is a repeat of the 'day before' on October 7th. We have to be able to think outside the box,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is quoted as saying by i24NEWS. The latter advocates a highly controversial “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians and a “new Israeli colonization.” His right-wing extremist colleague, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, also called for Israeli settlers to return to the Gaza Strip on Sunday. “To ensure security,” he explains, “we need to control the territory and for that we need a civilian presence on the ground.”
According to Thomas Vescovi, independent researcher specializing in the Palestinian territory and member of the editorial committee of Yaani.fr, this initiative of the Minister of Defense must also be analyzed in the light of the internal dynamics within the government: “He refuses to position himself” in the Line of the far-right ministers in the Netanyahu government.” “It is certain that early elections will take place in 2024. Thanks to this plan, he can position himself as an alternative to Netanyahu, who has not given in to the sirens of the extreme right,” emphasizes the researcher.
3 Can this plan be supported by the international community?
“It's not the worst plan,” analyzed Hubert Védrine, former foreign minister, on Franceinfo on Friday. “The worst are the people who think like the Americans when confronting the Indians during colonization,” those who “want to expel the two million inhabitants of the West Bank, take control of Gaza and resettle settlers in Gaza.” the French continued diplomat.
For Laure Foucher, senior researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research, “Yoav Gallant's plan is extremely vague and avoids all complex points and disagreements internally and with the United States on the post-war issue, such as security management and Palestinian return.” Autonomous authority. In fact, it is a path that the United States, a strong ally of Israel, defends. “Any future government plan in Gaza must include a Palestinian government and a unification of Gaza with the West Bank under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority,” emphasized American Secretary of State Antony Blinken in November 2023 during a visit to Israel in power in the West Bank today . The absence of this hypothesis in Yoav Gallant's plan could cost him valuable American support.
The minister's strategy also remains unclear on the economic side. “He mentions an international aid mechanism for Gaza, but who will finance the reconstruction and under what conditions?” asks Laure Foucher, who notes that the plan proposed by the minister still contains “many unknowns”.