US Military Commander Values Israel's Postwar Plan In Gaza Strip Is Not Clear

General Charles Q. Brown. (Wikimedia Commons/US Air Force)

JAKARTA - The United States military commander on Thursday said Israel had not yet shared much about "the day after" in the Gaza Strip, Palestine after the war with Hamas ended.

This was conveyed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General of the Air Force CQ Brown, following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu's speech at Congress on Wednesday which outlines only a faint outline for "dedradicalized" postwar Gaza.

"There aren't much detail I can see from their plans," General Brown told a Pentagon press conference.

"This is something we will continue to work on with them."

Washington is known for months to have repeatedly urged Israel to draw up realistic postwar plans for Gaza, warning the absence of such plans could trigger violations of the law and chaos as well as the return of Hamas to Palestinian territory.

"As far as the day after, we have spoken to Israel about this, how to make the transition. We have spoken to them several times," said General Brown.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Thursday Israel had not put forward much details on plans for the following day, but talks were continuing.

"We've discussed with them about this and they were in different places than a few months ago when they didn't think of the next day at all," Miller explained.

"We were at the point where we spoke to them and they put forward some ideas," he added.

It is known, Palestine previously said it only ended the Israeli occupation and the formation of a Palestinian state that would bring peace.

But in his speech at Congress, PM Netanyahu did not mention the creation of a path towards the Palestinian State after the war in Gaza. It was something he and his right-wing coalition partners had firmly resisted even as the Biden administration had pushed Israel to give in to the matter.

PM Netanyahu has not ruled out the role of the West Bank-led Palestinian Authority, whose position in a future two-state solution is supported by US President Joe Biden's administration but is opposed by PM Netanyahu's coalition partners.

The latest conflict in Gaza began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people. Israel launched a counter-attack.

According to an Israeli tally, the Hamas-led militants arrested 250 prisoners on October 7. About 120 hostages are still being held even though Israel believes one in three people are dead.

Separately, Gaza's health authorities on Thursday confirmed the death toll of Palestinians as a result of Israel's deadly aggression into the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, has now reached 39,175, while 90,403 people have been injured.