The security cabinet will on Thursday, discuss a plan authored in cooperation with the United States, for Gaza after the war.
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In a briefing to reporters, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that when the war ends, Hamas would no longer rule over Gaza and Israel would not govern the Strip's civilians. "There are Palestinians living there so it would be Palestinians who would be responsible for them, provided they would not be hostile to Israel or able to operate against it."
National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will present the plan to the ministers after consultations both in Israel and with the Biden administration. A delegation from the IDF and the Defense Ministry visited Washington for talks on the day after the war, and the mechanism of providing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The plan would include Israel's ability to operate militarily in the Strip without restrictions on the use of military force and will have security oversight over the supply of aid being brought in.
Egypt would play a major role in any long-term solution in Gaza while Israel and the United States continue to discuss an effective isolation of the border area, by technological and physical means, to prevent the smuggling of arms. There are also efforts to establish an underground barrier similar to the one on the Gaza border with Israel, that would be funded by the Americans.
The U.S. will lead a coalition of Western European and moderate Arab nations to form a task force that would be responsible for the economic and physical rehabilitation of Gaza.
The governance of the Strip would be based on existing administrative systems including some 30,000 government employees who will manage water, sewage and garbage collection. A minority of those employees are supporters of Hamas and most of them have been working in those capacities for decades.
They administration in Gaza will be based on local civilians approved by Israel and the international task-force to manage civilian needs.
It is unclear who would be in charge of public order. Israel has mapped the makeup of large family clans, academicians and local government officials and is familiar with their alliances. Israel's Shin Bet would ensure that members of Hamas are not placed in any governing role.
Israel is aware that UNRWA which has been charged with education in Gaza, is hostile body to Israel but its replacement would require time.
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U.S. Sec. of State Antony Blinken with PA President Mahmoud Abbas
(Photo: Saul Loeb / Reuters)
Israel continues to oppose the Palestinian Authority assuming control of Gaza, a view the American administration shares until the PA is reformed.