A senior Israeli defense official held meetings in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan to garner regional support for a plan to recruit Palestinians without links to Hamas to help distribute aid in Gaza.
The talks also centered on who would be tapped to run the Gaza Strip following the terrorist group’s defeat, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Israel has been under U.S. pressure to present its plans for the “day after” the war, with the Biden administration pushing it to put the Palestinian Authority in charge as a jumping-off point to a two-state solution, something the Netanyahu government has adamantly opposed due to the P.A.’s open support for terrorism.
Israel’s approach to the Arab states represents the “first steps” to addressing the problem of Gaza’s governance post-Hamas, the Journal reported.
The emerging leadership, once having proven itself by handling aid distribution in the coastal enclave, would then receive the backing of security forces “funded by wealthy Arab governments,” Israeli and Arab officials said.
However, the aid effort has already hit obstacles, according to the report, as the current proposal does not signify Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support, who hasn’t signed off on the idea as some of the proposed alternative leaders are linked to Fatah, the ruling party in the P.A.
Hamas also remains a challenge to the establishment of new leadership. Channel 12 reported on Thursday that the terrorist group is outraged by the Israeli move, threatening to execute “collaborators.”
“Communication with the occupation forces by the heads of families and tribes is considered national treason. This is something we will not allow,” a Hamas official said.
Last week, it was reported that Hamas executed a “prince” of the powerful Doghmush clan in Gaza City. The killing was a message to those considering cooperating with Israel, which had been probing the possibility of using Gaza’s clans as a substitute for Hamas.
