From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 1 hour ago, updated 1 hour ago
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA / Portal
Yoav Gallant on Thursday evening outlined a future for the Gaza Strip in which there would be “neither Hamas” nor “Israeli civil administration” in Palestinian territory at the end of the fighting.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant presented his first plan for the “post-war” period in the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, January 4, according to which there would be “neither Hamas” nor “Israeli civil administration” in the Palestinian territory after the end of the fighting. Yoav Gallant revealed the outlines of this plan to the press before presenting it to Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, which has been divided in recent weeks over how to proceed in the war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007 was.
According to the plan, operations in the Gaza Strip will “continue” until the “return of the hostages,” the “dismantling of Hamas's military and government capabilities,” and the “elimination of military threats in the Gaza Strip,” Yoav Gallant supported. After that, another phase will begin, that of the “day after” the war, in which “Hamas will not control Gaza,” according to this plan, which at this point has not yet been adopted by the government.
Once the war goals have been achieved, there will no longer be any Israeli civilian population in the Gaza Strip. »
Yoav Gallant
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called on Monday for the return of Jewish settlers to Gaza after the war and the “encouragement” of the Palestinian population to emigrate, following a similar call from his far-right colleague Bezalel Smotrich. “There will be no more Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip after the war objectives have been achieved,” Yoav Gallant corrected on Thursday, specifying that the Israeli army would, however, retain “its freedom of action” in the Gaza Strip to contain any possible “threat.” . “The people of Gaza are Palestinians. “As a result, the Palestinian entities will be responsible (for management), provided that there is no hostile action or threat against the State of Israel,” the defense minister affirmed, without specifying which of the Palestinians will administer this territory of 2.4 million people should be residents.
In recent weeks, analysts have discussed various scenarios, such as the return of Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA), currently in the occupied West Bank, to the Gaza Strip after the war. However, according to a recent survey by the Center for Palestine Policy and Polling Research (PCPSR), an independent institute in Ramallah, almost two-thirds of Palestinians surveyed (64%) believe that Hamas will retain control of Gaza after the fighting ends. . About 11% of respondents predict an AP government but without Mahmoud Abbas, and almost 7% predict the latter.
The revelation of Yoav Gallant's plan comes on the eve of a new visit by the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken to the Middle East, aimed, among other things, at preventing the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading throughout the region.