The Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, made public yesterday his plan for the next phases of the war in Gaza, including also the future that is wanted for the strip after the end of Hamas. The aim is, as explained, for the Palestinians to rule the strip, for there to be Israeli control and for there to be no Israeli civilians in the enclave.
Gallant, also a member of Likud, the party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, specifies in the document provided by the press office of the Israeli Government that “Hamas will not govern Gaza, Israel will not govern the civilians of Gaza (…) The Palestinian organizations will assume the government on the condition that there will be no hostile actions”.
This translates into various operational phases that are expected to be undertaken in the coming weeks and whose purpose is precisely to be able to come up with this post-Hamas scenario.
The return of the hostages (129, according to the calculations of the Hebrew Government), the dismantling of the military and government capacity of Hamas and the elimination of the military threats of the enclave in the long term are the priorities announced by the Minister of Defense . Therefore, it is announced that military operations will continue on the ground in the north, center and south of the Palestinian enclave. Although it is in the south of Gaza where the Minister of Defense puts more emphasis, since “operational efforts are focused on eliminating the leadership of Hamas” and “will continue for as long as is considered necessary”, he explains.
The leaders of Hamas remain unaccounted for almost three months after the war began. They are believed to be in southern Gaza.
But it is with regard to the plans for the Hamas post that new details are being outlined.
Gallant points out that “Israel will reserve operational freedom of action in the Gaza Strip”, so that “necessary measures will be taken to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel”. He points out, therefore, that “the entity that will control the territory will take advantage of the capabilities of the existing administrative mechanism, the civil committees in Gaza: non-hostile local actors”. It also indicates that “due to security requirements, Israel will carry out the inspection of goods entering the Gaza Strip”.
The outlined plan insists, however, that “there will be no Israeli civilian presence in Gaza once the objectives of the war have been achieved.”
The Defense Minister’s document is specific. To a large extent, it is in line with what influential actors in the region and the Government such as the United States are asking for. But the Prime Minister drags several internal tensions in his Cabinet that continue without securing a common position. And the plan detailed by Minister Gallant may, and more than likely will, open more cracks.
