Netanyahu of Israel lays out post-conflict plan for Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu outlined his thoughts on the future state of Gaza following the conflict.

In his plan, Israel would keep control of security for a long time, and Palestinians who are not part of any groups that are unfriendly to Israel would govern the area.

The United States, Israel’s close friend, wants the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank to control Gaza after the war.

However, the brief paper that Mr. Netanyahu showed to ministers last night does not talk about the PA.

He said the internationally supported organization won’t have a role after the war.

He thinks Gaza should be made less like a military zone. Israel would need to remove any military equipment that’s not needed for keeping the peace.

The Southern border of the territory would be closed near Egypt to stop illegal trading.

And they will promote programs to help people who have become radicalized to change their beliefs in all religious, educational, and welfare organizations. The paper says that Arab countries that have done similar programs before will be part of this one. But Netanyahu did not say which countries specifically.

Under the plan, Israel would continue to have security control over the area on the west side of the Jordan River, including land, sea, and air.

Mr Netanyahu has been feeling stressed because people in his country and other countries want him to share his ideas for fixing the situation in Gaza. This pressure started when he started his military operation. He really wants to fix his bad reputation as a leader who can protect Israel. He also wants to get support from the most conservative people in his government.

A person who speaks for Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, said that Mr. Netanyahu’s plan was going to fail.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that to make the region safe and stable, the world should stop Israel from controlling Palestinian land and should acknowledge that Palestinians have their own country.

Mr Netanyahu said again that he doesn’t support Western countries recognizing Palestine as a state without both sides agreeing.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US does not want Israel to take over Gaza again or make it smaller.

Gaza Terrorism is not allowed on this platform. Israel should not go back into Gaza. He said at a meeting of ministers in Argentina that the size of Gaza should not be made smaller.

At the same time, people who are trying to make a short break in fighting and free Israeli captives are planning to meet in Paris.

The US wants to make a deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts in about two weeks.

The situation is getting worse in Gaza, and many countries want the war to stop. The Health Ministry controlled by Hamas says that over 29,500 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since the war started in October.

Israel’s attack was caused by Hamas’ very serious attack on 7 October when gunmen killed about 1,200 people – most of them were not soldiers – and took 253 people as hostages back to Gaza.

Last night, the leader of the UN group in charge of helping Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said that Gaza is in big trouble. This could cause problems for peace, safety, and human rights in the region.

Philippe Lazzarini wrote a letter to the president of the UN general assembly. In the letter, he said that Unrwa is in a very difficult situation. Israel keeps asking for Unrwa to be taken apart, and donors are not giving money to Unrwa when there are a lot of people in need in Gaza.

Last month, some of Unrwa’s main supporters stopped giving money to the agency because Unrwa fired some of its workers. Israel accused the workers of being involved in the attacks in October.

Mr Netanyahu wants to shut down the agency as part of his plan after the war and put different international aid groups in its place.

He said he will keep fighting until Israel gets rid of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and all Israeli hostages come home.

At the end of 2023, Mr Netanyahu said the war might continue for a long time.

The US said that Israel’s building of houses in the West Bank goes against the law.

“Our government strongly disagrees with building more settlements. We think it makes Israel less safe, not safer,” said Mr.

It changes a decision made in 2019 by the Trump administration, which Israel liked. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US no longer thought that settlements broke international law.