Plans to redesign governance of the Gaza Strip should happen now because it could take time to totally defeat Hamas, Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told the 21st Herzliya Conference.
“We don’t need to wait for Hamas to disappear because maybe that process will take a long time,” he said.
Israel has emphasized that the elimination of the terror group is the first step to creating a new reality in Gaza, a concept Hanegbi said he agreed with.
Pragmatically, however, it’s important to move forward now, given that the IDF is finishing its intense phase of fighting in Rafah, he added.
“You cannot completely get Hamas to disappear because it’s an idea, a concept. So you need a competing, alternative concept, and that would be a local leadership willing to live side by side with Israel and not to devote its life to killing Israelis,” Hanegbi said. “This is what needs to happen.”
Hamas has forcibly controlled Gaza since it ousted the Palestinian Authority in a bloody coup in 2007. Israel has insisted that once the war is over, it can no longer rule Gaza or control it militarily.
“Once Hamas no longer has the ability to lead the military, governmental, and administration systems as it did before October 7, then this will give a greater opportunity for countries that truly want to see a governmental alternative in Gaza, along with local leadership in Gaza, to be mobilized,” Hanegbi said.
Already looking for a replacement
The cabinet has authorized the IDF to lead the process of finding an initial alternative, starting with north Gaza in the near future, Hanegbi said.
By necessity, he explained, the US and the Arab countries are expected to play a leading role in redesigning Gaza. “Any proposal, any suggestion that is an Israeli proposal won’t happen because anybody who would cooperate would lose their legitimacy in the Palestinian society.”
“We’re talking about leadership that won’t only be bottom up, but also top-down,” he said.
EU and UN involvement
The United Nations and Europe would also be involved in the process of redesigning Gaza, Hanegbi continued.
“Most countries in the world would like to see moderate, pragmatic, and realistic alternatives to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And this is why Israel should be the one that perhaps allows for the conditions in the sense of eliminating from the area any significant Hamas operatives,” he said.
“Those who will lead it, those who need to manage it” would be “a local Palestinian leadership with the backing of Arab countries and the international community,” Hanegbi concluded.