The Palestinian Authority has sharply criticized the “morning after” plan for Gaza presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it “doomed to failure.”
“If the world wants security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and recognize the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, presidential spokesperson. Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas. Friday by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Netanyahu’s plan is his first official proposal for the post-Gaza war – during which Israel killed more than 29,000 Palestinians.
According to the document, presented to members of the Israeli security cabinet on Thursday, Israel would maintain security and military control over all lands west of Jordan, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza – territories where the Palestinians want to create their state. independent.
Among the long-term goals listed, Netanayhu also rejected “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state. He said a settlement with the Palestinians would only be possible through direct negotiations between the two sides – but he did not specify who the Palestinian party would be.
In response, Abu Rudeineh rejected any attempt to separate governance in Gaza from that of the West Bank.
“Gaza will only be part of the independent Palestinian state… Any plan to the contrary is doomed to failure,” he said. “Israel will not succeed in trying to change the geographic and demographic reality of the Gaza Strip. »
“Netanyahu’s proposed plans aim to perpetuate Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state,” Abu Rudeineh added.
The White House also added unease with the plan, with US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby saying Washington had been “always clear with our Israeli counterparts” about what was needed in the post-war Gaza Strip.
“The Palestinian people should have a voice and a vote…through a revitalized Palestinian Authority,” Kirby said. “We do not believe in reducing the size of Gaza… we do not want to see forced displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza and, of course, we do not want to see Gaza dominated or governed by Hamas. »
Gaza will be run by “local officials”
The war in Gaza has reignited international calls – including from Israel’s main backer, the United States – for the so-called two-state solution as the ultimate goal for resolving the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. for decades. However, many high-ranking Israeli politicians oppose the creation of a Palestinian state.
In Gaza, Netanyahu’s plan emphasized that the war would continue until Israel achieved all of its stated objectives: the dismantling of military capabilities and infrastructure operated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad; the return of all the captives taken on October 7; and the elimination of all security threats from Gaza.
The enclave will then be run by “local officials” who are not linked to “countries or entities that support terrorism”.
Commenting on the project, Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst at Tel Aviv Tribune, said the identity of these officials was unknown.
“We don’t know who they are, he (Netanyahu) doesn’t know either… I don’t think they exist. There were attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to create such entities among the Palestinians and it failed in no time,” he said.
It is also unclear whether representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be involved in controlling Gaza.
Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hamdah Salhut noted that in his draft plan, Netanyahu did not mention the PA’s role.
“He (Netanyahu) did not say it officially in his plan but used broader terminology probably to achieve consensus within his right-wing government,” she said.
“Remember, the Israeli prime minister is under immense pressure from Americans who want to see a revitalized Palestinian Authority take over once the war is over. But Netanyahu was quite provocative about coming to take control of Gaza,” Salhut added.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s plan also presents demilitarization and deradicalization as medium-term objectives to be achieved in Gaza. It does not specify when this intermediate stage would begin or how long it would last, but asserts that “the Israeli army will indefinitely retain the freedom to intervene in Gaza to prevent the resurgence of terrorist activities.”
He also proposes that Israel be present on the Gaza-Egypt border, south of the enclave, and says Israel should cooperate with Egypt and the United States in this area to prevent smuggling attempts. , including at the Rafah crossing.
Plans to close UNRWA
Finally, Netanyahu’s plan also calls for closing the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Israel has long tried to eliminate the United Nations agency that guarantees Palestinian refugees’ right to return home. Israel recently claimed that UNRWA had links to Hamas, a claim the body has fiercely denied and which US intelligence assessments have cast doubt on, according to reports.
Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA’s director of external relations and communications, told Tel Aviv Tribune that attempts to get rid of UNRWA should be seen alongside efforts to remove the future prospect of a Palestinian state, stressing Netanyahu’s display of a map of Israel including the occupied West Bank, Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem during a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September.
“A map that includes and encompasses all Palestinian territories where UNRWA works. I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” she said.
According to Tel Aviv Tribune’s Bishara, this plan is not official and is a plan that Netanyahu is presenting to the cabinet, in order to disclose it to the media and do a number of other things.
“First there is this approach towards one’s own base. He tells his radicals in the government and the public that he stands firm…Secondly, I think it’s pretty stupid to be honest, because we know the Israelis have tried this before (a proposed takeover of Gaza in one form or another) and it never worked,” Bishara said.
“I mean, it’s (the plan) so sadistic. We are in the middle of the fifth month of genocide against the Palestinian people. Yet the Israeli Prime Minister insists he will remain in control…this kind of sadism is unprecedented. »