Palestine Values Postwar Plan In Gaza Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Will Fail

Israeli military land operations in Gaza. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - The Palestinians say the end of Israel's occupation and recognition of independence is a way to achieve regional security and stability, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his plans in Gaza after the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has submitted his first official plans for the Gaza Strip after the war ended, saying Israel will maintain security control over Palestinian territory and make reconstruction dependent on demilitarization.

The plan, which brings together various Israeli positions, underscores PM Netanyahu's rejection of the creation of a Palestinian state that is considered a security threat, without explicitly ruling it out in the future.

The document proposes Israel will maintain security control over the entire region west of Jordan, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The plan was conveyed by PM Netanyahu to the security cabinet on Thursday. It comes amid growing international calls to end fighting that has devastated much of Gaza's territory, as well as to revive efforts to establish a Palestinian state side by side with Israel.

In its long-term list of goals, PM Netanyahu rejected "one-sided recognition" of the Palestinian state. He said settlements with Palestine would only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides, without specifying who the Palestinian side would be.

In Gaza, they proposed replacing Hamas' administrative control with local representatives "who are not affiliated with countries or terrorist groups and are not financially supported by them", establishing demilitarization and deradicalization as goals to be achieved in the medium term.

"Documents of the prime minister's principles reflect a broad public consensus on the purpose of war, the replacement of Hamas power in Gaza with civilian alternatives," a statement from the Prime Minister's office said.

However, the plan did not specify when the intermediary stage would begin or how long the stage would last. However, this conditions the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, which has been largely neglected due to Israeli attacks, must be fully demilitarized.

On Friday, when the plan was published, efforts to stop fighting to allow the return of the 134 hostages detained by Hamas continued, ahead of the holy month of Ramadan which began in March.

Israeli ministers say that unless an agreement is reached, Israel will launch a long-awaited operation against the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

To secure control of Gaza, PM Netanyahu suggested Israel be present at the Gaza-Egypt border in the south of the enclave, in collaboration with Egypt and the United States in the region to prevent smuggling attempts, including at the Rafah crossing.

The plan also calls for the closure of the UN UNRWA Palestinian refugee agency, which Israel has repeatedly accused of providing protection to Hamas, and replacing it with another international aid group.

In response to this, Palestinian officials quickly denied it and considered the plan to fail.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, told Reuters Prime Minister Netanyahu's proposal would inevitably fail, as would Israel's plans to change the geographic and demographic realities in Gaza.

"If the world is really interested in gaining security and stability in the region, the world should end Israel's occupation of Palestinian soil and recognize an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," he said.