(Tel Aviv) Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday opposed Israel exercising military or civilian “control” over the Gaza Strip once the war ends and called for a Palestinian alternative to Hamas to govern the Palestinian territory.
“I repeat clearly: I will not accept the establishment of an Israeli military administration in Gaza, Israel must not have civilian control over the Gaza Strip,” Gallant said during a press briefing. .
“I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to […] declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza Strip […] “There is no military leadership in place in the Gaza Strip and that a government alternative to Hamas will be prepared immediately,” he added.
Mr. Netanyahu had earlier considered futile any discussion on the future of the Gaza Strip before Hamas was wiped out. “Speech about the ‘day after’, as long as Hamas is not destroyed, will remain mere words, words empty of content,” he said.
“The end of the military campaign must be accompanied by political action,” replied Mr. Gallant, while Israel has been carrying out ground operations for nearly 10 days in Rafah, in the far south of the Palestinian territory, to annihilate the last battalions of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
According to Mr. Gallant, “the ‘day after Hamas’ will only exist with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors, forming an alternative government to the Hamas regime. It is, above all, in the interest of the State of Israel.”
“The idea of military and civilian leadership in Gaza” is “negative and dangerous for the State of Israel,” he insisted.
If this were to happen, “the military administration of Gaza would become the main military and security effort of the State of Israel in the coming years […]. The price to pay would be bloodshed and casualties, as well as a heavy economic cost.”
For his part, Hamas leader Haniyeh said Wednesday that the Islamist movement would decide with other Palestinian factions on governance in Gaza after the war with Israel.
“We say Hamas is here to stay […] and it will be up to the movement and all national factions [palestiniennes] to decide post-war governance in Gaza,” Haniyeh said in a televised speech.
He also said the outcome of ceasefire talks was uncertain as Israel “insists on occupying the Rafah crossing and amplifying its aggression” in the Palestinian territory since the deadly Hamas attack on the 7 october.
Flight of criticism
According to him, the “battle plan” presented by the military apparatus after the bloody attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas in Israel, planned to work “simultaneously” for the military destruction of Hamas and “for the establishment of a non-hostile Palestinian governmental alternative” to Israel.
“I repeatedly raised this subject with the government and received no response,” lamented Mr. Gallant.
“The first condition for preparing the ground for another entity is to destroy Hamas and do it without looking for excuses,” Mr. Netanyahu reacted on Telegram, seeming to implicitly criticize his minister’s record.
“The Minister of Defense who failed on October 7 and who continues to fail today […] must be replaced in order to achieve the objectives of the war,” responded the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, of the far right.
“The Israeli people will not agree to hand Gaza over to the control of the Palestinian Terrorist Authority” and its security “will only be ensured by the determination to win”, for his part retorted the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, member of the Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud.
Mr. Gallant “announced today his support for the creation of a Palestinian terrorist state,” criticized Betzalel Smotrich, far-right Finance Minister.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data. More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 128 remain captive in Gaza, including 36 considered dead, according to the army.
The Israeli offensive launched in response to Gaza has left more than 35,000 dead, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.