JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made his first official proposal for the status of the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas.
In a document submitted Thursday to the Israeli security cabinet and consulted Friday by Reuters, Benjamin Netanyahu plans that Israel retains control of security in all Palestinian territories, whether Gaza or the West Bank.
Among his long-term goals, Netanyahu rejects any “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state and says an agreement can only be reached through direct negotiations between the two parties, without specifying which Palestinian movement he would accept as interlocutor .
In Gaza, Netanyahu presents demilitarization and deradicalization as Israel’s medium-term goals after the war. It does not say when this stage will begin or how long it is expected to last. But it conditions the reconstruction of Gaza on its complete demilitarization.
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Netanyahu wants the Israeli army to retake positions along the Egyptian border, and to cooperate with Egypt and the United States to prevent any smuggling attempts, particularly at the Rafah border crossing.
To replace Hamas in power in Gaza while preserving public order in the enclave, Netanyahu suggests without further details working with local representatives “who are not affiliated with terrorist countries or groups and who are not financially supported by them.
It calls for the closure of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and its replacement by other international humanitarian organizations.
“The Prime Minister’s statement of principles reflects broad public consensus on the objectives of the war and on replacing Hamas’ power in Gaza with a civilian alternative,” Benjamin Netanyahu’s office commented in a statement.
The document was distributed to members of the security cabinet on Thursday to open debate on the subject.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abou Roudeineh, told Reuters the plan was doomed to failure, as was any Israeli project aimed at changing the geographic and demographic realities of Gaza.
“If the international community is serious about ensuring security and stability in the region, it must end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and recognize an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.
(Reporting by Henriette Chacar and Ali Sawafta; French version Tangi Salaün, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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