THE ARROGANT Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has outlined his proposals for the future Israeli governance of Gaza ‘once the war between Israel and Hamas is over’.
‘There would’, he said, ‘be extremely limited Palestinian rule in the territory. Hamas would no longer control Gaza and Israel would retain overall security control.’
Fighting in Gaza continued alongside the plan’s publication, with dozens of workers and youth killed by Israel in the previous 24 hours, the Hamas-led health ministry said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due back in the region this week. He is expected to hold talks with Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank and Israeli leaders to try and reach a deal to sell out the Palestinian masses.
His visit comes amid heightened tensions in the region following the murder of top Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday by Israel in Lebanon’s capital Beirut.
In fact, hundreds of thousands attended the funeral of Arouri in Beirut, determined to continue the struggle and to establish the State of Palestine from the river to the sea.
Under Gallant’s ‘four corner’ plan, Israel would retain overall security control of Gaza, while a multi-national force would take charge of rebuilding the territory after the widespread destruction caused by Israeli bombing. This is while the Palestinian masses are encouraged to leave Gaza and Palestine with Israel using all of its special measures for achieving this end.
Neighbouring Egypt is also to have a major role to play to try to get Palestinians to accept the plan.
Gallant assures that: ‘Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against the State of Israel.’
The plan was not discussed in any detail in the Israeli cabinet and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on it. The meeting is reported to have broken up acrimoniously, with some ministers angrily objecting to names put forward for an investigation into the events surrounding the 7 October attack by Hamas.
Talk of the ‘day after’ in Gaza has led to deep disagreement in Israel.
Far right-wing members of Netanyahu’s government have said that Palestinian citizens should be encouraged to leave Gaza for exile, and Jewish settlements established throughout the occupied territories.
Gallant’s proposals must be rejected by the Palestinian leaders who must insist that the Palestinians themselves must take full control of Palestine to establish their state!
Netanyahu has suggested that the war in Gaza may yet last several months, with the avowed goal being to completely crush Hamas, all the better to establish a coalition of the willing!
Gallant’s plan also outlined how the Israeli military aims to proceed in the next phase of the war in Gaza.
He said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would take a more targeted approach in the north of the Gaza Strip, where operations will include raids, demolishing tunnels and air and ground strikes.
In the south, the Israeli military would continue to try to track down Hamas leaders and rescue Israeli hostages, he said.
They have already announced the killing of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative, Mamdouh Lolo, in an air strike.
In fact the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 125 people had been killed in the past 24 hours across the Strip.
The working people of the world support Palestine and now they must make sure that the Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
There is to be a massive National March for Palestine on Saturday January 13th in London.
The TUC and the TUC trade unions must put themselves at the head of this march and announce that they are calling a general strike of all UK trade unions to demand that the Palestinian state is immediately established with Jerusalem as its capital and with all Palestinians enjoying the right to return and able to freely take their place in the Palestinian state!