2023-12-05 01:05:04
Among the scenarios studied for the Gaza Strip after the war, there is none that contemplates – not even remotely – the possibility of Hamas retaining power. All analyzes agree that he signed his death sentence with the October 7 attacks and that his days are numbered. However, the resilience of the aforementioned organization is often overlooked, since its creation in 1988, it has gone through all kinds of tribulations from which it has managed to emerge relatively unscathed.
After Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006, Israel decided to isolate the Gaza Strip from the world by imposing a land, sea and air blockade and declaring it an enemy entity. By doing so, he hoped the situation would become ungovernable and the Islamist movement would lose its base of support. Not content with this, he launched a series of offensives to destroy their armed militias and assassinate their main leaders. However, neither Operation Cast Lead, nor Defensive Pillar, nor Marge Protector, nor Guardian of the Walls succeeded in undermining his authority. Worse still, the aforementioned campaigns caused a high number of civilian casualties and radicalized their positions.
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After the current campaign against the Gaza Strip, different plans have been put on the table for the day after, all agreeing to rule out any role for Hamas. The US and EU believe the best option would be for the Palestinian Authority to regain control of the Strip, although Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has warned they will not return to Gaza on an Israeli tank and that a solution is needed integral for all the occupied territories. It seems clear that the Palestinian Authority, whose legitimacy is strongly eroded in the West Bank, considers the return to Gaza a high-risk mission, because it could be accused of being a collaborator with the occupying forces and doubts the capacity of the international community to finance its reconstruction.
The Netanyahu government has insisted on the need for Israel to fully control the security of Gaza to avoid a rearmament of the Islamist militia. Some of the members of his Cabinet are in favor of rebuilding the settlements that were dismantled by Ariel Sharon in 2005 and even of more extreme solutions, such as the expulsion of its two million inhabitants to Sinai. Recently, Gila Gamliel, Minister of Intelligence, recommended to the international community: “Instead of sending money to rebuild Gaza or to the bankrupt UNRWA [Agència de les Nacions Unides per als Refugiats de Palestina al Pròxim Orient], can help fund resettlement and help Gazans build their new lives in their new host countries.” Avi Dichter, Minister of Agriculture and former head of the Shin Bet, was much clearer: “We are deploying the Nakba in Gaza: Gaza Nakba 2023. This is how it will end,” with reference to the ethnic cleansing of 1948 that resulted in the expulsion of 80% of the Palestinian population from their homes.
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