Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has put forward a plan for Gaza after the war that would see local Palestinian officials with no ties to Hamas or its foreign supporters running the territory.
The Palestinian Authority quickly rejected the proposal, which was presented to Netanyahu’s security cabinet on Thursday night and would also require the Israeli army to continue its war on Hamas until it achieves key objectives.
These include destroying Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and freeing all hostages still held in Gaza, according to the proposals, which were seen by AFP on Friday.
After the war is over, Gaza’s civil affairs would be managed by “local officials with administrative experience” and who are “not connected to countries or entities that support terrorism”.
Even after the war, the Israeli army would have “unlimited freedom” to operate in Gaza to stop any revival of terror activity, according to the plan.
“The plan states that Israel will proceed with its ongoing project to create a security buffer zone on the Palestinian side of the strip’s border,” it said, adding the zone would stay “as long as there is a security need for it”.
It also envisions Israeli security control “over the entire area west of Jordan” from the land, sea and air “to prevent the strengthening of terrorist elements in the (occupied West Bank) and the Gaza Strip and to counter threats from them towards Israel”.
The plan envisions Gaza’s “complete demilitarisation… beyond what is needed for the needs of maintaining public order”.
It aims to promote “de-radicalisation in all religious, educational and welfare institutions in Gaza”.
A key element of the plan was the dismantling of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
The plan also has elements concerning the Egypt-Gaza border, which has been affected by smuggling.
It said a “southern closure” on the border would be imposed to prevent a resurgence of any terror or smuggling activity.
Some elements of the Netanyahu plan clash with Washington’s vision for post-war Gaza.
The United States has supported Netanyahu’s call to eliminate Hamas, which rules Gaza, but has urged the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, to gradually take over control in Gaza.
On Friday, Abbas’s spokesman slammed the plan.
“Gaza will only be part of the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, according to Palestinian official news agency Wafa.
“Any plans to the contrary are doomed to fail. Israel will not succeed in attempts to change the geographic and demographic reality in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
“If the world wants security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and recognise the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Abu Rudeineh said.
Netanyahu has long criticised the Palestinian Authority, and on Wednesday Israel’s parliament also backed his proposal opposing any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
