by Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel is seeking to recruit Palestinians with no ties to Hamas to manage civil affairs in areas of the Gaza Strip designated as testing grounds for future administration of the territory after the war against Hamas, a government official said an Israeli government official on Thursday.
This plan would also exclude anyone employed by the Palestinian Authority, recognized by the international community, said the same source. “Anyone who took part, or did not condemn, on October 7 is excluded,” he said.
“We are looking for the right people to take over,” explained this senior Israeli official. “But it is clear that it will take time, because no one will want to come forward if they think Hamas will put a bullet in their head.”
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The eradication of Hamas from the Gaza Strip, an objective declared by the Israeli government since the attack carried out by the Palestinian group in the south of Israel on October 7, will therefore condition the success of these “humanitarian pockets”, added this responsible.
The plan “could be finalized once Hamas has been destroyed and will not pose a threat to Israel or Gazans,” he said.
Israel’s Channel 12, one of the most watched in the country, reported that the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza was a candidate for the establishment of an experiment zone where local traders and civil society representatives would be charged of the distribution of humanitarian aid.
The Israeli army would provide security on the outskirts of the neighborhood, where its forces entered again this week to eliminate the remains of a Hamas brigade, according to the channel.
The Israeli government has not confirmed the information.
Asked to comment, Sami Abou Zouhri, senior Hamas official, considered this project useless, confusing and doomed to failure, adding that it would in fact lead to the reoccupation by Israel of the Gaza Strip, evacuated in 2005 by the Israeli army.
Wassel Abou Youssef, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, estimated that “all of Israel’s efforts to change the geographic and demographic situation in Gaza will not succeed.”
(Jean-Stéphane Brosse for the French version, edited by Kate Entringer)
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