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The Palestinian Authority has sharply criticized a “day after tomorrow” plan for Gaza presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it “doomed to fail.”
Nabil Abu Rudineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted as saying, “If the world wants security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.” Recognition has to be given.” by the Palestinian state news agency Wafa on Friday.
Netanyahu's plan is his first official proposal to come after the war in Gaza – in which Israel has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians.
According to the document presented to members of Israel's security cabinet on Thursday, Israel will maintain security and military control over all lands west of Jordan, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza – areas where Palestinians want to create their own independent state. want.
Among the long-term goals listed, Netanyahu also rejected “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state. He said an agreement with the Palestinians would only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two parties – but did not specify who the Palestinian party would be.
In response, Abu Rudineh rejected any efforts to separate governance in Gaza from that in the West Bank.
He said, “Gaza will only be part of an independent Palestinian state… Any plan to the contrary is doomed to failure.” “Israel will not succeed in its efforts to change the geographical and demographic reality in the Gaza Strip.”
“Netanyahu's proposed plans aim to perpetuate Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Abu Rudineh said.
Gaza to be run by 'local authorities'
The war in Gaza has revived international calls – including from Israel's main supporter, the United States – for a so-called two-state solution as the ultimate goal to resolve the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, many senior Israeli politicians oppose the creation of a Palestinian state.
While on Gaza, Netanyahu's plan emphasized that the war would continue until Israel achieved all of its stated goals: destroying military capabilities and infrastructure operated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad; Return of all prisoners captured on 7 October; and removing all security threats emanating from Gaza.
The enclave would then be run by “local authorities” that are not tied to “countries or entities that support terrorism.”
Commenting on the plan, Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said the identities of these officers were unknown.
“We don't know who they are, he (Netanyahu) doesn't even know… I don't think they exist. “There were attempts to create such institutions among Palestinians in the 1970s and 1980s and they failed within a short period of time,” he said.
It is also unclear whether representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be involved in controlling Gaza.
Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut highlighted that, in his draft plan, Netanyahu does not mention the PA's role.
“He (Netanyahu) did not officially say this in his plan, but probably used broad terminology to reach consensus among his right-wing government,” he said.
“Remember that the Israeli Prime Minister is under heavy pressure from the Americans who want to see a revived PA take over power after the war ends. But Netanyahu has been defiant in coming quietly and taking over Gaza,” Salhut said.
The Israeli Prime Minister's plan also outlined demilitarization and deradicalization in Gaza as goals to be achieved in the medium term. It does not say when the mediation phase will begin or how long it will last, but says that “the Israeli military will indefinitely maintain the freedom to intervene in Gaza to prevent a resurgence of terrorist activity”.
It also proposed that Israel maintain a presence on the Gaza-Egypt border south of the enclave and said Israel should cooperate with Egypt and the US in that area to prevent smuggling attempts, including at the Rafah crossing.
Plan to shut down UNRWA
Lastly, Netanyahu's plan additionally requires the closure of UNRWA, the United Nations aid company for Palestinian refugees.
Israel has lengthy been making an attempt to dismantle the United Nations company that ensures Palestinian refugees' proper to return residence. Based on reviews, Israel has not too long ago claimed that UNRWA has ties to Hamas, a declare strongly denied by the group and solid by US intelligence assessments as uncertain.
Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA's director of exterior relations and communications, advised Al Jazeera that efforts to eliminate UNRWA must be seen alongside efforts to take away the longer term chance of a Palestinian state, highlighting Netanyahu's show of the map of Israel. Which additionally included the occupied West Financial institution. occupied Gaza and East Jerusalem throughout an deal with to the United Nations Common Meeting in September.
“A map that features all of the Palestinian territories the place UNRWA works. “I don't suppose it's a coincidence,” he stated.
Based on Al Jazeera's Bishara, the plan is just not official and Netanyahu is bringing it to the cupboard to leak it to the media and do many different issues.
“To start with, he has that perspective towards his base. He’s telling his hard-liners within the authorities and the general public that he stands agency… Secondly, I feel it's fairly silly, to be sincere, as a result of we all know the Israelis have tried this earlier than (in a single type or one other). The plan to take management of Gaza within the U.S.) “It by no means labored,” Bishara stated.
“In any case, this (plan) may be very sadistic. We’re within the midst of the fifth month of genocide towards the Palestinian folks. But, the Israeli Prime Minister insists he’ll keep management… That sort of sadism is unprecedented.