Among the long-term goals listed, he rejected “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state.
Jerusalem:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presented an “after-the-fact” plan for Gaza, his first formal proposal on when the war in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory will end.
Israel will maintain security control over all land west of Jordan, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where Palestinians hope to establish independence, according to the document presented to members of Israel’s security cabinet on Thursday and seen by Reuters on Friday. territory. state.
Among the long-term goals listed, Netanaihu rejected “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state. He said reconciliation with the Palestinians could only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides, but he did not identify the Palestinian side.
In Gaza, Netanyahu has listed demilitarization and deradicalization as goals to be achieved in the medium term. He did not elaborate on when the intermediate phase would begin or how long it would last. But he restored the Gaza Strip, much of which had been destroyed by Israeli offensives, in exchange for complete demilitarization.
Netanyahu has proposed that Israel establish a presence on the Gaza-Egyptian border in the south of the enclave and work with Egypt and the United States in the area to prevent smuggling attempts, including at the Rafah crossing.
To replace Hamas rule in Gaza while maintaining public order, Netanyahu suggested working with local representatives “who are not affiliated with and financially supported by terrorist states or organizations.”
He called for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, to be closed and replaced by other international aid organizations.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said: “The Prime Minister’s principles document reflects broad public consensus on the goals of the war and the replacement of Hamas rule in Gaza with civilian alternatives.”
The document has been circulated to security cabinet members to begin discussions on the issue.
The war was sparked by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostage, according to Israeli statistics.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and launched air and ground attacks on blockaded Gaza, killing more than 29,400 people, according to the Palestinian health authority. The offensive displaced much of the territory’s population and caused widespread starvation and disease.
Nabil Abu Rudeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters that Netanyahu’s proposal was destined to fail, as were any Israeli plans to change Gaza’s geographical and demographic realities.
“If the world truly cares about the security and stability of the region, it must end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and recognize an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.
The war in Gaza has revived calls from the international community – including from the United States, Israel’s main backer – for a so-called two-state solution as the ultimate goal of resolving the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, some senior Israeli politicians are opposed to this.
The two-state solution has long been a core Western policy in the region, but little progress has been made towards Palestinian statehood since the signing of the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s.
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