2024-01-05 03:47:52
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv on November 30, 2023. SAUL LOEB / AP
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant presented to the press on Thursday, January 4 evening, the broad outlines of his first “post-war” plan in the Gaza Strip. He must then submit it to the war cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, divided in recent weeks over the course of action to follow in the war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the enclave since 2007.
According to the plan, operations in the Gaza Strip “will continue” until “return of the hostages”au “dismantling Hamas’ military and governance capabilities” et “the elimination of military threats in the Gaza Strip”, argued Mr. Gallant. After which another phase will begin, that of ” next day “ the war according to which “Hamas will not control Gaza”.
The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, called on Monday for a return of Jewish settlers to Gaza after the war and for ” encourage “ the Palestinian population to emigrate, following a similar call from his far-right colleague, Bezalel Smotrich.
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“The people of Gaza are Palestinians”
More “there will be no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip after the objectives of the war have been achieved”declared Mr. Gallant, specifying that the Israeli army would however keep “his freedom of action” in Gaza to curb all « menace » possible.
“The people of Gaza are Palestinians. Therefore Palestinian entities will be in charge [de la gestion] provided that there is no hostile action or threat against the State of Israel.said the Minister of Defense without specifying who, among the Palestinians, should administer this territory of 2.4 million inhabitants.
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In recent weeks, analysts have discussed different scenarios such as the return to the Gaza Strip, after the war, of Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA), which currently sits in the occupied West Bank.
However, according to a recent poll by the Center for Palestinian Policy and Polling Research (PCPSR), an independent institute in Ramallah, nearly two-thirds of Palestinians surveyed (64%) believe that Hamas will retain control of Gaza after the fighting ends. . Some 11% of respondents predict an AP government but without Mahmoud Abbas and barely 7% with the latter.
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Antony Blinken visits again
In an interview with Financial Timesthe Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Shtayyeh, however pleaded in favor of a “political solution for the whole of Palestine” and not just from Gaza. “People are starting to talk about the ‘day after’, about the PA ruling Gaza again”but Israel “wants to politically separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank”did he declare.
And to add: “We have to look at the calendar and cross off 2024. (…) I don’t think Israel will leave Gaza anytime soon, rather I believe Israel will create its own civil administration that will operate under the authority of its occupying army. Therefore, the question of “the day after” is not clear [pour le moment] ».
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The unveiling of the Gallant plan comes on the eve of a new visit to the Middle East by the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, which aims, among other things, to avoid a spread of the war between Israel and Hamas.
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