Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under immense pressure for still lacking any straightforward plan for post-war Gaza, with an Israeli army official strongly rebuking him and another resigning.
This Sunday the Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi strongly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for still having zero plan or strategy on who will govern the Gaza Strip after the war ends and how.
Speaking during a weekend security meeting in Tel Aviv, Halevi lashed out at Netanyahu for no “day-after strategy,” and said that “unless there is a move to establish a government other than Hamas in the region, Israel would be forced to repeat attacks in Rafah.”
It was last week on Tuesday that the Israeli military launched a ground attack on the Rafah area, seizing control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing connecting Gaza to Egypt, a move that has sparked a new wave of international criticism against Tel Aviv.
Israeli media also reported this Sunday that Yoram Hamo, an Israeli official in charge of defense policy and strategic planning at the National Security Council, has resigned due to frustrations over the failure to reach political decisions regarding future actions in the Gaza Strip.
In an effort to cover up the new embarrassment, Israel’s National Security Council claimed that Hamo had expressed his intention to step down several months ago, citing “personal reasons unrelated to public matters.”
The Israeli government says any future government in the besieged enclave should not be led by Hamas. But proposals for a post-war Gaza governance by Netanyahu have all been ridiculous so far.
Netanyahu’s awkward post-war proposal angers UAE!
In his latest statements about the future government in Gaza after the war, Netanyahu said this Saturday that he would like to see a civilian government supported and managed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia in Gaza.
“I think we have to ensure the continued demilitarization of Gaza, and destroy and eradicate all members of the terrorist (Hamas) army, then we probably have to have some kind of civilian government in Gaza, probably, in my opinion, with the help of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other reliable countries, we can see stability and peace in Gaza.”
However, less than 24 hours after Netanyahu’s comments, the UAE rejected the plan, and the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Netanyahu had “no legal authority” to request other participation of third countries in the civil administration of Gaza.
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed emphasized in this statement that Netanyahu “does not have the legitimacy to take such actions” and the UAE “will refuse to participate in any plan aimed at covering up Israel’s illegal presence in Gaza.”
The statement also emphasized that the UAE is committed to supporting a Palestinian government that is aligned with the aspirations of the Palestinian people. No Saudi official has yet reacted to Netanyahu’s proposal.
Netanyahu had previously said last week that he would hand over the control of Gaza to a private American security company after the end of the Rafah invasion. But apparently, after the United States announced late that it had canceled a shipment of arms to Israel due to Israel’s invasion of Rafah, the Israeli Prime Minister has now changed his position regarding who should run Gaza after the war.
