GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 140

The Day After

When The War Ends

According to a report found in The Jerusalem Post a basic plan for Gaza and the West Bank is being considered by the Israel war cabinet:

The Israeli army will retain securing control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank once the war is over, and a local Palestinian governance of technocrats will rule the enclave, according to a plan Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the security cabinet and which was released to the media early Friday morning.

“It was distributed to the security cabinet members as the basis for discussion on the subject,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

As previously mentioned, the plan doesn’t have specifics:

The brief document, which dealt only with principled points and was short on concrete details, divided the situation into three periods: immediate, short, and long-term.

The immediate goal is pretty obvious:

In the short term, the plan underscored Netanyahu’s principled position that Israel was determined to continue the war, which began on October 7, until it had destroyed the terror group Hamas, which has forcibly ruled Gaza since 2007.

“The IDF will continue the war until its goals are achieved: the destruction of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad’s military capabilities and governmental infrastructure, the return of the hostages, and the prevention of any threats emanating from the Gaza Strip.”

Netanyahu restated this goal, as an Israeli delegation was scheduled to head to Paris for talks for the release of the remaining 134 hostages.

Netanyahu also addressed the differences between this plan and what Hamas wants:

Among the points of contention between Israel and Hamas has been the terror group’s insistence on a permanent ceasefire and the complete IDF withdrawal from Gaza.

In setting out his short and intermediate goals for Gaza, Netanyahu clarified that this would not happen.

No Timeframe Given

For those who were wanting at least a timeline, Netanyahu didn’t give one as we got back to the Post article:

He also didn’t set a timeframe for his intermediate plan, which looked at the security and civilian aspects of life in Gaza after the war.

The Israeli army will “maintain operational freedom of action in the entire Gaza Strip, without a time limit, to prevent the renewal of terrorism and to thwart threats from Gaza,” according to Netanyahu’s plan.

There was also no surprises on who will continue to keep the areas safe:

Israel will have “security control over the entire area west of [the] Jordan [River], including the Gaza border area, to prevent the strengthening of terrorist elements in the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza Strip and to thwart threats [emanating from there] against Israel,” the plan stated.

In addition, according to the plan, “the Gaza Strip will be completely demilitarized.” The plan alluded to a second domestic security force, akin to the police, that would maintain law and order.

It appeared to indicate a model that now exists in the West Bank, where there is a Palestinian police force, while the IDF maintains overall security control.

According to the plan, the only arms allowed in Gaza will be “what is required for maintaining public order.”

Israel will be tasked with the “responsibility for realizing this goal and overseeing its maintenance in the foreseeable future,” the plan stated.

A Predictable Response

We read in an article from i24news.tv that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is not pleases with the news of a post war Gaza and West Bank plans:

The Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry has issued a scathing condemnation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's post-war plans in Gaza, denouncing them as tantamount to a "formal reoccupation of the Gaza Strip" and an imposition of Israeli control.

In a strongly worded statement posted online, the PA's Foreign Ministry criticized the position paper presented to the security cabinet by Netanyahu, outlining the proposed management of Gaza following the recent conflict.

The plans include the installation of "local officials" who are not affiliated with terrorism to administer services in the Strip, effectively replacing Hamas. Additionally, the document advocates for the indefinite freedom of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to operate throughout Gaza.

The PA considers even the outline of the plans as continuing of killing the people they lead:

According to the PA, these plans represent "a plan to prolong the genocide against our people" and an attempt by Israel to buy more time to implement displacement plans.

The statement from Ramallah accuses Israel of employing a blatant maneuver to intercept and thwart American and international efforts aimed at linking the end of the conflict and the release of prisoners and hostages to the resolution of the broader Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The PA wants the world community to help them out in their resistance:

Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority urged the United States and other Western countries to take decisive action, including recognizing Palestine as an independent state, facilitating its membership in the United Nations, and organizing an international peace conference.

Such actions, the PA argues, are necessary to end the occupation and allow the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination freely and with dignity.

As long as the PA and Hamas continue to attack Israel with weapons and terrorist acts of violence, Israel could only expect more of the same unless they are in control. If these Palestinians want to be treated better, they need to act better.

A Strong Line In The Sand

We’ve heard about this stance recently, but it bears repeating as talks to release the hostages appear to back on in Paris. We turn to a report from The Times Of Israel to get more on this:

Hostage talks are set to start again. But Israel is drawing a hardline: either Hamas frees those hostages by Ramadan or the IDF will smash the terrorists' last stronghold in Rafah during the Muslim Holy month. This comes as sickening details continue to spill out about Hamas' brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women on October 7th.

Israel's war against Hamas started months ago in the north of Gaza, but the military says it continues to expand its activities there. Troops were seen running and firing as they made their way from building to building.

Israeli negotiators are headed back to long-stalled talks aimed at getting the release of more than 130 hostages that Hamas may still hold captive in Gaza. Israel's returning to talks only because mediators say Hamas has softened its demands – like a total end to the war.

Israel says no matter what, it will fight till it's permanently ended the threat of Hamas.

If no hostages are released, Rafah will be hit:

Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz has repeated his demand that Hamas release all the hostages before the March 10th start of Ramadan. If they don't, he says the IDF will strike into its last major target. That's the city of Rafah, which right now is packed with more than a million Palestinians who fled earlier fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

Unless things change, the last bastion of Hamas will fall.

Is Qatar Hiding Something?

According to a United States expert, Qatar should be considered a supporter of terrorists as we read in an article from The Jerusalem Post:

A shocking new report by the Middle East Media Research Institute revealed that Qatar’s authoritarian state trained Hamas operatives at the country’s police college as recently as 2023.

According to the early February MEMRI report, “Qatar – which is known for supporting Hamas, financing its military activity and sheltering its leaders, and for extending media support to Hamas by means of its Al-Jazeera channel – also trained, in its Police College in Al-Rayyan, officers from Hamas' Interior and National Security Ministry, which is part of Hamas' governing authorities in the Gaza Strip.”

This raises serious questions about Qatar as they are acting as mediators between Hamas and Israel. Are they really unbiased? We read more on that now:

Qatar is currently functioning as a mediator in an effort to secure the release of the over 130 hostages held by Hamas in Qatar. Israeli officials and MKs have been largely reluctant to comment on the Qatari regime’s role in funneling over $2 billion into Hamas’ coffers over the last ten years due to the hostage release talks.

This connection happened even after Hamas was considered a terrorist regime:

The training of Hamas operatives in Qatar took place long after Hamas was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US and the European Union.

MEMRI wrote “Hamas officers were routinely sent to train at this college, which recently produced its sixth class of graduates, and were received with great honor upon their return to the Gaza Strip”

Rich Goldberg, a member of the National Security Council during the Trump administration, told the Jerusalem Post ”This is certainly further evidence to support a designation of Qatar as a state sponsor of terrorism.” Goldberg testified in Congress in late October about Qatar’s alleged role in sponsoring Islamist terrorism.

According to MEMRI, the two are no different:

Yigal Carmon, the president and founder of MEMRI, told the Post that "Qatar is Hamas and Hamas is Qatar.”

This news certainly casts Qatar as a less than reliable negotiation participant in Paris or anywhere. Pray that Israel goes into these talks with their eyes open as its looking more and more like they are going to act alone in getting the hostages back and ending this war.