Dr. Muhammad Khalifa Siddiq: America previously appointed a military governor for Iraq and he did not succeed, and he will fail in Gaza as well
 Dr. Amani Al-Qarm: The appointment comes within the framework of the “next day” plan to end Hamas rule and prevent the return of the Authority
 Dr. Jamal Al-Shalabi: This is a message that Israel will remain indefinitely and that the ongoing negotiations are worthless.
 Dr. Amjad Shehab: The plan will be thwarted by steadfastness, exhausting the occupiers, and the Gazans’ rejection of any “civil administration.”
 Dr. Riad Al-Aila: Reoccupying the Gaza Strip is the last bullet to the peace agreements with the PLO
 Hatem Al-Falahi: The coming days are decisive regarding the occupation’s continued presence in Netzarim and Philadelphia or its withdrawal from them



The occupying state has once again shuffled the cards of the negotiations that have been ongoing for many months to reach a prisoner exchange deal, by appointing Brigadier General Elad Goren as military governor in the Gaza Strip, under the title of “Head of Humanitarian-Civilian Efforts in the Gaza Strip,” to take on the task of managing the aid file for more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and dealing with daily issues, such as delivering humanitarian aid through the crossings, and communicating with international relief organizations.

This step reveals the occupation state's involvement in two lines of negotiations, the first of which is formal with Hamas, represented by the resistance factions, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Negotiations according to this line have been ongoing for many months without achieving their declared goal, but they are sometimes used as a cover to continue the war of extermination in front of the world, and to absorb the anger of the Israeli street, which is demanding a deal to return the Israeli detainees. As for the second line of negotiations, it is the one that the occupation state is conducting with itself and with the United States, in order to make the necessary arrangements for the future of the Gaza Strip, or what has become known as "the day after" after it failed to resolve its war in the Strip militarily.

But there are a number of questions: Will Israel succeed in this step? What is its real value on the ground? Is there any justification left for continuing the negotiations? Will the international community accept such a step? And where does the Palestinian Authority fit into all this?

Military governor to manage aid file!

Dr. Mohamed Khalifa Siddiq, Professor of Political Science at the International University of Africa in Khartoum, told “I”: The Israeli occupation army’s appointment of a military governor in the Gaza Strip, under the title of “Head of Humanitarian and Civilian Efforts in the Gaza Strip,” who is an officer in the occupation army, Elad Goren, who it said will be in charge of managing the aid file for two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and dealing with daily issues, such as delivering humanitarian aid through the crossings, and communicating with international relief organizations, is, in my view, a step towards obtaining international legitimacy for the permanent occupation of Gaza.
He added: This step reminds me of the appointment of retired US General Guy Garner as military governor of Iraq after the US occupation of Iraq. The strange thing is that Garner held the same title as the military governor of Gaza, which is (Head of the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq). The US administration also appointed a military governor in Japan after World War II, when it appointed General MacArthur as military governor of Japan, and he remained the de facto ruler despite the presence of a Japanese government.

Sadiq continued: “At the time, many American newspapers described Garner as being ‘Likud-oriented’, and that he had been working for some time at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (GINSA), which supports Likud, and that he had other suspicious connections.”

A formula of occupation in the Gaza Strip.. but it will not be acceptable

Siddiq stressed that “just as the idea of a military governor for Iraq did not succeed, it will not succeed in Gaza, because America’s fear of bearing the costs of rebuilding a destroyed Iraq alone prompted it to abandon the idea of imposing a direct American military governor on Iraq. Therefore, on April 21, 2003, Garner was appointed to head an American team of about 400 people, most of whom were military personnel, while military forces continued to be present on its territory, under military features. He was dismissed on May 11, 2003, which is what I expect for the military governor of Gaza, because he originally came to find a complicit alternative in managing the Strip, after the failure in the face of the resistance’s steadfastness.”
The Sudanese analyst explained that this decision is a formula of the occupation in the Gaza Strip, and will not be acceptable, despite the announcement that Goren's mission is to communicate with international relief organizations regarding Gaza, and the occupation wants to tell the countries of the world and relief organizations that it is interested in humanitarian relief issues in the Gaza Strip, and has appointed an official in this field, in the context of misleading the countries of the world, while the Palestinian citizen in Gaza is facing enormous suffering, which no one can describe, and a military governor will not succeed in changing the situation, as evidenced by the occupation's inability so far to return the Israeli prisoners held by the resistance, or to stop the continuation and expansion of the resistance's activity.

Netanyahu made no secret of his intentions towards Gaza

“Unlike many, I believe that Netanyahu was very clear in revealing his plans for Gaza,” Dr. Amani Al-Qarm, a writer and political researcher on American affairs from Gaza, told Al-Arabiya. “The world, including the United States, was talking about one thing, and Netanyahu was talking in a completely different way, which was often direct, and at other times indirect, to suit the pressure of international demands that were not achieved, and no country, including the United States, was able to pressure him.”
She considered that "the decision to appoint a military governor comes within the framework of Netanyahu's plan for the next day, which is centered around reoccupying Gaza, at least in the coming period. It does not necessarily have to be an occupation with a visible presence, but it could be an occupation that controls all the crossings of the Strip and what enters and exits, in addition to the legitimacy of sudden military operations as necessary. Exactly as happens in most cities in the West Bank, with an important difference, which is that there is no Palestinian Authority here in the literal sense."

Controlling the details of civilian life in the sector

“By doing so, Netanyahu will achieve two goals: the first is to end Hamas rule on the ground and make it impossible for the Palestinian Authority to return, or even eliminate what remains of it here in Gaza. The second, based on the long list of tasks the Israelis have drawn up for the new job, I find that it controls all the details of civilian life necessary for the Palestinian person in Gaza. In other words, the minimum requirements for human life in Gaza, whether by permission or prohibition, will remain subject to the interpretations of the Israeli military governor,” she said.
Al-Qarm added: “I do not think that this appointment will affect the course of the negotiations. The negotiations need real pressure and a balance of power for the outcome to be fair to the Palestinians, despite all the heavy losses they have suffered. The Palestinians are the weaker party, and even if the negotiations succeed, their outcome will not be commensurate with the size of the enormous losses we have suffered.”

The "next day" of war will be Israeli!

For his part, Dr. Jamal Al-Shalabi, Professor of International Relations at the Hashemite University of Jordan, said: The appointment of a military governor for the sector by a unilateral decision reflects a set of messages:
Firstly, there is a major deficit among the parties to the conflict, whether at the Israeli or Palestinian levels, or at the level of the sponsors of the negotiations, Qatar and Egypt, and the sponsor of those negotiations, the American administration.
Secondly, a message that the next day of war will be 100% Israeli, which means that there is a return to the pre-2005 period when Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, i.e. a message that imposes a rhythm of change in the future in managing the matter.
Thirdly - and this is important - there is a message that Israel will remain for an indefinite period of time, that the negotiations currently underway have no meaning or significance, that Israel is the decision-maker regarding Gaza, and that the evacuation decision made by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has become a part of the past.

Obstacles in Israel's way

Al-Shalabi wondered: To what extent can Israel achieve this today? He pointed out that there is great difficulty in this direction, first because the people of Gaza today are not as they were 25 years ago, second because there is a global sense and awareness of the issue of Gaza and Palestine more than there was in the past, and third because Gaza will not be an easy journey, as today the Palestinian people in Gaza have experience in resistance and experience in paying the price.
He considered the Israeli decision "a mere show of force and a demonstration of strength to the Israeli people (that we are the ones directing the event, and what is happening in Gaza is in a way that suits Israeli interests)."
Al-Shalabi stressed that "no one in the Arab world, even those who oppose Hamas' approach and agenda, has the audacity to follow in Israel's footsteps, whether in supporting it financially, militarily, or diplomatically."

Humanitarian aid as a tool to achieve war goals

In turn, the Jerusalemite political analyst Dr. Amjad Shehab confirmed to “I” that “the Netanyahu government’s creation of a new position linked to the future of the Gaza Strip from an Israeli perspective, under the title of “Head of Humanitarian-Civilian Efforts in the Gaza Strip,” aims to impose Netanyahu’s vision for managing the Strip on the administrative level, in preparation for keeping the occupation army permanently in the Strip, and an attempt to use the humanitarian aid file as a tool to achieve the declared war goals of bringing down the Hamas movement militarily and administratively, after its success so far in holding out, despite the extent of the destruction and the huge number of wounded, martyrs and missing persons.”
Shehab pointed out that the attempts of the occupying state to impose on all international and charitable organizations and associations to communicate with the officer in the occupation army under the title of head of civil humanitarian efforts aim to find a civilian alternative to the Hamas movement inside the Strip, to form a "civil administration" directly subordinate to the occupation, and this will inevitably lead, according to Netanyahu's expectations, to obtaining the legitimacy for the occupation to remain in the Strip permanently.

The collapse of the swap deal negotiations

He pointed out that revealing the extremist government's scenario plan will inevitably lead to the collapse of any negotiations regarding the prisoner exchange process between the resistance and the occupation.
“Hamas can thwart the new plan if it can hold out by continuing to drain the occupation army’s human resources, and if the residents of the Gaza Strip (clan leaders and large families) continue to refuse to form any ‘civil administration’ under the occupation, which will inevitably lead to the failure of any military governor of the civil administration in the future, and will force Netanyahu to return to a serious discussion about completing the deal,” Shehab said.

Replicating the model of the war of extermination in the West Bank

Dr. Riad Al-Aila, a professor of political science at Al-Azhar University, told Al-Arabiya: “The idea of appointing an Israeli military governor for the Gaza Strip will lead to the reoccupation of the Strip once again after the withdrawal from it in 2005, and this is tantamount to firing the last bullet at the peace agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization.”
He added: “This is particularly evident through the Israeli army’s storming of cities and camps in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and dealing with them in the same way that it practices a war of extermination and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Therefore, the appointment of a military governor aims to end the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian Authority, by taking advantage of the prolongation of the war of extermination and the decline in international interest and support.”
He continued: "In addition to that, there is the complete bias on the part of the American administration and its president who said: 'If Israel does not exist, I will create it'. Therefore, the genocide that our Palestinian people are experiencing is supported by the American administration, which supplies Israel with internationally prohibited weapons."
Al-Aila stressed that “the appointment of a military governor aims to achieve the above-mentioned, and at the same time the ongoing negotiations to stop the war of extermination and free the Israeli detainees seem worthless in my opinion, and are merely an attempt to buy time for the Israeli Prime Minister, who claims that he seeks to eradicate the resistance movement from the Gaza Strip, but his real goal is to uproot the Palestinian people from Gaza and displace them outside the Arab region.”

Five teams to control the Gaza Strip

Iraqi military analyst Hatem Al-Falahi told Al-Arabiya: “The appointment of an Israeli military governor for the Gaza Strip is a first step towards restoring military rule in the Strip.”
He added: "The leaks indicate that Netanyahu seeks to occupy Gaza in the coming period, and the talk is about the need for five divisions in order to control the Gaza Strip, and that two million people in the Strip need administrative, medical and humanitarian arrangements, and this will be very costly for the Israeli army."
Al-Falahi pointed out that this step has implications, including finding an alternative to Hamas inside the Gaza Strip, but the question is: Can the Israeli army achieve the war’s goals in the way Netanyahu sees them and with the possibility of imposing military rule inside? This requires a lot, especially since the Strip has been completely destroyed and is now without infrastructure, and this requires great capabilities. Will Israel be able to provide that? I doubt that.”
Al-Falahi said, "Unless the Israeli decisions are cancelled or reversed, I do not believe that there will be a prisoner exchange deal, because the conditions are clear: the need to withdraw from the Philadelphi and Netzarim axes, and that there be an administration for the Palestinians with all their factions."
He stressed that the existence of these obstacles and the continued presence of the Israeli occupation forces would be two main reasons for disrupting the deal negotiations.
Adsaf Al-Falahi: “The coming days are decisive in determining the direction the Israeli army can go in the matter of remaining in these two axes or withdrawing from them, and the differences between Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense were clear in the Israeli Cabinet session, as the Israeli security leadership sees the necessity of withdrawing from the Netzarim and Philadelphi axes, because they do not constitute any importance to the Israeli army.”