Israel will expand its economic aid to Gaza through the local private sector, planning extensive repairs to the sanitation system in cities with displaced civilians. The repairs will include sewage pipes and purification plants damaged during the war, which caused an overflow of sewage. Power lines that were damaged will also be restored.
"Most Gazan residents, about 1.9 million people, live in the coastal areas of the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah and Deir al-Balah," said security officials. "Epidemics could easily break out there due to poor sanitation. There were places where sewage puddles were dried up and discharged to the sea, but this is a health hazard for us as well. The Khan Younis municipality has already started to dump sewage into the sea, which may lead to the closure of Zikim and Ashkelon beaches. It is a miracle that no diseases have spread there. There are piles of garbage next to running water, and we will take care of this issue."
Officials stressed the need for a central government in Gaza. "Israeli martial law would cost at least 30 billion shekels a year, which would come at the expense of Israel's security. We need to decide what the IDF will invest in monitoring the Iranian nuclear threat, Hezbollah, economic development or controlling Gaza. It's impossible to do both."
The defense establishment proposed a civil administration in Gaza comprising representatives from moderate Muslim countries in the region, such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan, to supervise a government of local Gazan technocrats. The alternative, establishing a local government under the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, was rejected by the Israeli government.
"We are at a dead end without a policy by the leaders that the IDF will carry out. The region also does not know what Israel wants to do with Gaza, so everything is up in the air. The thing that will stress Hamas the most is knowing there is an alternative government to take its place, and such a move will also speed up negotiations and finalize the deal."
In the meantime, the defense establishment has allowed more Gazan merchants to buy food directly from Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This measure addresses concerns from international aid organizations regarding armed Gazan looters who take over aid trucks, steal goods, and sell them to displaced people in Gaza at exorbitant prices.
'Flood Gaza with food'
Israel is ramping up its supply of food and basic goods to Gaza, with the private sector in Gaza purchasing directly from Israeli businesses. These products include fruits, vegetables, essential items, gas, and fuel. Israeli retail companies have even sought permission from the defense establishment to sell products to Gazans. Currently, about 200 trucks carrying goods enter the Gaza Strip daily, primarily through the Kerem Shalom crossing, with some shipments arriving via the Ashdod port or from Jordan.
"The goal is to flood the Gaza Strip with food, to appease the international community, and to protect senior officials from arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court," explained security officials. "Even international aid agencies are shocked that there is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, nine months after the fighting began."
Security officials acknowledge that a significant portion of aid is controlled by Hamas and reaches its recruits in the displaced persons' camps. "Although this is not the case everywhere, Hamas still has civilian control over most of the Gaza Strip. Our goal is for its government to be as weak as possible until we find who can rule over two million Gazans," they said.