Former Israeli security officials are divided on find out how to cope with the growing anarchy in the northern Gaza Strip, but many agree that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lack of a workable plan for find out how to run the enclave makes it unattainable to chart a path toward a more stable future.
Netanyahu has presented a vague plan that calls for Israeli security control of Gaza after the war. He also firmly rejected US calls to reorganize the Palestinian Authority – which currently has limited authority to manipulate the West Bank – to manipulate the enclave.
But there are not any easy options. Many Palestinians see the Palestinian Authority as tainted by corruption and mismanagement, and plenty of in Netanyahu’s government distrust it. Some politicians and retired Israeli military officials have called for Israel to occupy Gaza – a minimum of temporarily – but that is widely opposed by the international community and would result in massive restrictions on Palestinian freedom. How Hamas and other factions confront the occupation will even be a significant challenge.
Some former Israeli officials say Mr. Netanyahu must now impose a governing body in areas from which the army has withdrawn to stop Hamas from rebuilding and spreading chaos. They said Israel would likely must proceed returning in the near future to parts of Gaza it had abandoned to fight resurgent Hamas fighters, but said that with out a more comprehensive plan, Israeli soldiers would must fight a protracted war of attrition.
“It’s a huge mistake” to not have a management plan in place now, said Gen. Gadi Shamni, a retired army division commander in Gaza. “It may take months or even years to create an effective alternative, but we need to start moving in that direction.”
“We will continue these back and forth operations much longer than necessary,” he said.
In February, Netanyahu called for Israeli military control of Gaza and for the “administration of civil affairs and enforcement of public order” to be based on “local stakeholders with managerial experience.” Many experts interpreted the plan as an try and postpone serious motion.
General Shamni said Netanyahu’s position reflected his reluctance to permit the Palestinian Authority to take power in Gaza. His government depends on tough coalition partners who oppose the government’s aspirations for Palestinian statehood.
“The most important thing for him is political survival,” said General Shamni.
Other retired Israeli officials argued that the Palestinian Authority was too weak to manipulate Gaza, but agreed that the establishment of leaving areas ungoverned was unsustainable.
Instead, Israel should first fully occupy Gaza after which attempt to introduce another governing body, they argue. Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer, said a brand new Israeli military raid on Al Shifa, a hospital complex that Israel first stormed in November, showed the need for a greater Israeli security presence in the north.
“People are asking: Haven’t we already cleared Shifa? We largely didn’t do that,” Milshtein said. “If you don’t stay there, they will be back within five minutes,” he said, referring to Hamas.
Gaza’s health ministry condemned the Israeli airstrike as a “crime against health institutions,” and humanitarian groups expressed concern about the situation at the complex, which, along with the surrounding area, sheltered 30,000 patients, medical workers and displaced civilians. Witnesses described a terrifying scene during the raid.
Israel said it had detained dozens of people and killed dozens of fighters, while Hamas claimed it had caused “death and injuries” to Israeli forces.
Fully occupying Gaza would require Israel to increase its forces in Gaza and devote more resources to providing services to the Palestinians. It would also defy international calls for Israel, including from President Biden, not to take such action.
For the Palestinians, this would mean that the Israeli military would retain full control of Gaza’s cities and entry and exit points.
Hamas would likely suffer in such a scenario, having less room to maneuver because Israeli soldiers could more easily suppress the group, but it is likely that Hamas would stage an uprising.
Milshtein argued that extending full Israeli control over Gaza was the only way to prepare the ground for another entity to take power.
“We don’t need increasingly limited actions in Gaza, we’d like to occupy the entire area and only then will we have the opportunity to construct a brand new arrangement,” he said.
