Netanyahu unveils Israel’s plans for control of Gaza after hostilities end

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially revealed plans for Gaza when hostilities have ended, issuing a formal proposal to his war cabinet that clearly opposes U.S aims.

The one-page paper, posted by his office, makes no mention of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ West Bank counterpart that the Biden administration seeks to seize control of, and rejects unilateral international measures toward Palestinian state recognition.

It also envisions a sizable security buffer within the besieged enclave, something the US has stated it opposes.

Dividing Gaza’s future into near, medium and long-term phases, it makes clear that Israel will continue its long-running blockade of the territory, and intends to remain involved in civilian issues, from how the local police operate and what the schools and mosques teach in the predominantly Sunni Muslim territory.

In practice, it could see a full-scale resumption of Israel’s control of the enclave and its 2.3mn population, combining elements of its decades-long occupation with the punishing blockade that was instituted two years after the 2005 disengagement, when the Israeli military pulled out of Gaza.

The US, Israel’s closest ally, and the EU have been pushing a different postwar plan.

It envisages the relatively secular Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, taking over control, setting the grounds for talks that would likely lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu released the plan around the visit to Israel of Brett McGurk, the US Middle East envoy.

The operation has already claimed the lives of at least 29,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to local health authorities, and the widescale destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.

The total death toll is estimated to be far higher, with thousands buried in the rubble.

In the medium term, Israel will build a “security area” within the Gaza Strip, running along its entire border. It also intends to build an over- and underground “security flank” or barrier along its border with Egypt to prevent weapons smuggling, and enforce land, sea and air control over the strip, the document said.

Israel will only allow weapons required “to maintain public order”, an opaque reference to a police force that has largely vanished after being targeted by Israeli air strikes, resulting in a chaotic law and order situation that has forced humanitarian organisations to curtail aid deliveries.

It said that in the civilian sphere, Israel will only allow “local actors with management experience” to enforce public order.”

Any reconstruction of the devastated Gaza Strip will be delayed to an unnamed date after Israel completes its military objectives. That indefinitely delays plans for the return of more than 1mn Palestinians who have been displaced from the north of the Gaza Strip, and are seeking shelter in the south, near the Rafah border crossing.

The document said Israel intends to choose who is allowed to lead Gaza’s reconstruction.