The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the security cabinet a document of principles regarding policy for the day after the Gaza war.

The Commission (officially) said that Netanyahu's document includes Israel's preservation of freedom to operate in the entire Gaza Strip without a time limit, and also includes the establishment of a security zone in the Strip adjacent to Israeli towns.

The Commission noted that Netanyahu's document also stipulates that Israel will maintain the southern closure on the border between Gaza and Egypt, and also includes a clause that UNRWA will be closed and that it be replaced by other international relief agencies.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation confirmed that the ministers of the small security ministerial council did not vote to approve Netanyahu’s document.

For his part, the Axios news website reported that Netanyahu also wants to implement a plan for what he calls “rooting out extremism” in all religious, educational, and social care institutions in the Gaza Strip.

The document also stipulates, according to Axios, that this plan will be implemented “as much as possible with the participation and assistance of Arab countries that have experience in strengthening the fight against extremism on their territories,” as he put it.

The document stresses that the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will not be possible until the demilitarization process is completed and the process of “de-radicalization” begins, a position that Netanyahu has not expressed publicly before. It also states that “reconstruction plans will be implemented with funding and leadership from countries acceptable to Israel,” according to Axios.

The document does not clearly specify who Netanyahu envisions ruling Gaza after the war, but it says that “local elements with administrative experience” will be responsible for civil administration and public order in Gaza.

Mobilize consensus

Axios also quoted an aide to Netanyahu as saying that the goal of the proposed document is to present principles that would gain the greatest possible consensus.

He added that consultations in the Israeli Cabinet would likely lead to changes before approving the document, he said.

More than once, Netanyahu stressed that he wants “Israeli security control” over Gaza after the war. In his previous statements, he also said, "The day after the war, Gaza must be demilitarized, and there is only one force that can be responsible for that, and that is the Israeli army."

He also affirmed on more than one occasion his categorical rejection of the Palestinian Authority taking over the duties of government in the Gaza Strip after the war.

Netanyahu's statements in this regard contradict the American position, and the drawn scenarios sparked a dispute between him and US President Joe Biden.

Since the seventh of last October, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which led to the death of more than 29,000 people and the injury of more than 68,000, in addition to the destruction of various cities and the displacement and starvation of the Strip’s population of about 2.2 million.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies