Israel's defense minister unveiled for the first time a post-war plan in Gaza, where Israel continued its bombing and ground operations on Friday, nearly three months after the start of the conflict with the Palestinian Hamas.
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The Israeli army announced the “elimination of a terrorist cell” in Bureij in the center of the Gaza Strip and the destruction of rocket firing sites aimed at Israel in Khan Younes, the major southern city epicenter of the fighting.
On the eve of a new regional trip by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant unveiled a post-war plan on Thursday, two days after the elimination of Hamas' number two, Saleh al-Arouri, in Lebanon.
Israel has vowed to “destroy” the Islamist movement – which is classified as terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union – following its unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7 that killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians Lives came AFP count based on Israeli toll. Around 250 people were taken hostage, around 100 of whom were released as part of a ceasefire at the end of November.
Since then, Israeli military operations in Gaza have killed 22,600 people, mostly women and minors, according to Friday health ministry figures for Hamas, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007.
Divided government
The plan put forward by Yoav Gallant, which still needs to receive approval from a divided government, envisages the continuation of operations in Gaza until the “return of the hostages”, the “dismantling of Hamas's military and government capabilities” and “the elimination.” military threats”.
For the post-war period, Mr. Gallant advocates a solution without Hamas but without an Israeli civilian presence, thereby rejecting calls from two right-wing extremist ministers for a return of Jewish settlers to Gaza and for an “emigration” of Palestinians. These statements sparked an international outcry, denounced in particular by the American ally and the European Union.
“After the objectives of the war are achieved, there will no longer be an Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip,” Gallant said, specifying, however, that the army would “retain its freedom of action” in the area. Danger”.
“The people of Gaza are Palestinians. Therefore, the Palestinian entities will be responsible (for management) on the condition that there are no hostile actions or threats against the State of Israel,” he stressed, without elaborating.
On the ground, the ordeal continues for some 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip, including around 1.9 million people displaced by the conflict: they lack water, food, medicine and care, and hospitals are no longer functioning or are very difficult.
In Rafah, the last city in the south of the small besieged area, “around 500,000 displaced people live near emergency shelters, on the streets or on the paths,” says Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinians in Gaza AFP Refugees (UNRWA).
“There's nothing left”
Families are flocking there in the hope of finding refuge, their belongings piled on the backs of vans, the roofs of overloaded cars or on carts pulled by donkeys or attached to tractors, AFPTV reported Friday.
“We fled from Jabaliya camp in the north to Ma'an (a district of Khan Younes) and now we are fleeing to Rafah, they shot at us,” explains a woman carrying cans.
Under these conditions, it is difficult for residents to imagine a post-war period.
“The future of Gaza after the conflict is bleak, the coming period will be even more difficult than the previous one,” predicts Abou Mohammed, 60, who fled from Bureij to Rafah. “I think that the Palestinian Authority, with its legitimacy, like the Arab countries, are the ones that can rule Gaza with the help and consent of Hamas. Hamas must give up power to save the population.”
“The future will lie primarily in reconstruction. Look at the destroyed hospitals and the destroyed schools. There is nothing left,” adds Ziad Abdo, 60, who also fled to Rafah.
Blinken's 4th tour
Around 150 trucks were able to enter the area on Thursday, but NGOs and the UN repeatedly point out that these supplies are still well below the population's needs.
Antony Blinken will advocate for “significantly” increasing humanitarian aid during his tour. He arrives in Istanbul on Friday, his first stop, and is expected in five Arab countries in addition to Israel from Sunday.
His trip, the fourth since the war began, is also aimed at averting an expansion of the conflict after the elimination – attributed to Israel – of Hamas's number two killed on Tuesday in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. by a drone attack.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of this Iran-backed Shiite movement and a Hamas ally, assured Friday that his fighters would “respond” to this attack on “the battlefield.”
Since the beginning of the conflict, there have been almost daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon. On Friday, the Israeli army carried out air strikes again on Hezbollah sites.
Concern is growing in northern Israel, where tens of thousands of residents were evacuated from the Gaza border area at the start of the conflict.
“Hezbollah is stronger than Hamas” and “military measures are needed” to counter it, believes Chen Amit, a 38-year-old sports coach.
In the Red Sea, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels are increasingly carrying out attacks on merchant ships that “support” Gaza.