The military-political cabinet met today to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war. It is known that the narrow military cabinet has already tried to raise this complex and painful topic, but Netanyahu canceled the discussion under pressure from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
At today's meeting, the head of the NSS, Tzahi Hanegbi, and Minister Ron Dermer, who have been working on it recently and have already held 8 working meetings, will present their plan for the organization of the Gaza Strip.
Yoav Galant did not wait for the cabinet's conclusions and told reporters about the Defense Ministry's plan.
According to Channel 13, Galant said that the IDF will maintain complete freedom of action in the sector - it will be able to enter and exit from there as needed.
At the same time, Israel will not be responsible for civilian administration in the Gaza Strip. The defense department believes that this mission will be entrusted to local Palestinian councils. The army rules out re-establishing Jewish settlements in the sector. “After the war, Hamas will not rule there, and Israel will not exercise civilian governance. Palestinians live there, so the Palestinian authorities will be responsible for civil administration, provided that they are not hostile to Israel and cannot act against it,” Galant was quoted as saying by Ynet. Israel is already looking for professionals in Gaza who could take up management - scientists, doctors, etc.
According to the Ministry of Defense’s plan, the restoration of the destroyed sector will be carried out by moderate Arab countries, the USA, France and some other Western countries. It is emphasized that the central issue in the reconstruction of Gaza is a political settlement of the issue, since not a single state will invest money in infrastructure without being sure that what has been built will not be destroyed in two or three years.
And finally, the most important and difficult question is who will ensure internal security in the sector, who will keep the population in check and prevent the seeds of terror from developing there? Israel does not yet have an answer to this question.
Yoav Galant's appearance to journalists with a project for the organization of Gaza after the war caused outrage among members of the military cabinet, since this issue should be resolved in a broader forum.
Smotrich called Galant's plan "a repeat of what happened before October 7" and returned to his idea of encouraging Arab emigration from the Gaza Strip. “New ideas and a change in concept are needed, namely encouraging emigration, full Israeli security authority and resumption of settlements,” the finance minister said.
A question about Galant's plan was posed to an IDF spokesman during an evening briefing for reporters. “It would be wrong to discuss this plan at a press conference and report the details to the enemy, so I will not talk about the content of the cabinet meetings,” Brigadier General Daniel Agari avoided a purely political issue.
bbabo.Net