Israel will isolate Hamas-free areas for “other forces” to govern in the coastal enclave, says Defense Minister.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s vision of what the “day after” would look like in the Gaza Strip after the total military defeat of Hamas is to divide it into areas where “other forces” would govern, he said Sunday.
In a statement after assessing the state of the ongoing war with the top IDF commanders in the field, he said that in parallel to the military operations, “The defense system, under my guidance, is preparing the governmental alternative to Hamas. We will isolate areas, remove Hamas’ men, and introduce other forces that will enable a different rule, one that will also threaten Hamas.”
“In any process of ending the war,” he stressed, “we will not accept Hamas as the ruling force in Gaza.”
While Gallant did not state who those “other forces” could be, Kan News reported Sunday that one pilot program being discussed is that several neighborhoods in northern Gaza will be managed by “local leadership” after being totally cleared of terrorists.
Aid will be poured in and the IDF would provide strong protection “from a distance” so that Hamas will not be able to regroup in these zones.
The report noted that Israel had attempted to implement such a pilot in the Zaytoun neighborhood some two months ago, contacting “local officials and crime families” who could manage it.
Hamas operatives reportedly beheaded one clan leader, “and the next day all the clans together announced their support for the terrorist organization,” the report said.
Gallant made a similar proposal last month, even considering letting such local independents bear small arms.
No Arab or Western country has said it would be willing to enter Gaza even after Israel’s military operations cease.
The proposed substitute pushed by the Biden administration is the Palestinian Authority.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled this out, as the nominally secular, nationalist rival to the Islamist Hamas supports terrorism and the eradication of Israel no less than Hamas, as proven by its own forces’ attacks in Judea and Samaria, relentless anti-Israel propaganda, and policies such as financially supporting terrorists in Israeli jails and using lawfare against the Jewish state in international courts.
The United States has been insisting for months that Jerusalem present a clear political plan for Gaza.
It has ruled out an Israeli military occupation of the Strip, although this solution is favored by many in Israel, considering the danger they assume Gaza will pose to the country’s security for years to come.
Hamas is holding firm that any hostage deal must include the complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.