Tzachi Hanegbi
Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli National Security Advisor, announced on Tuesday that Israel will soon implement a plan to replace the Hamas government in northern Gaza.
Hanegbi stated at Reichman University’s annual Herzliya Conference that the breakdown of Hamas’ military capabilities to rule will provide an opportunity for countries that want to see a governing alternative to Hamas in Gaza, with local leadership in Gaza, to join this process.
He said that Gaza’s new leadership will comprise Israel’s Abraham Accords allies, the US, the EU, and the UN, as the Israeli military proceeds to cleanse the area of Hamas presence.
“We’ve been talking about this notion of ‘the day after’ for many months and the main thing that we’ve tried to emphasize throughout is that it’s mainly the day after Hamas in the sense that we don’t need to wait for it to disappear, because that process could take a long time”, Hanegbi continued.
Hanegbi went on to say, “The idea is, and this is what the Americans agree on, including in the conversations this week and also in the conversation that the minister of defense [Yoav Gallant] is conducting right now [in Washington], is that there will be a so-called top-down leadership, and not only bottom-up”.
“You cannot completely get Hamas to disappear because it’s an idea, a concept”, Hanegbi added.
The United States has pressured Israeli authorities to outline their vision for Gaza’s administration following the conflict. The Biden administration opposes Israel occupying Gaza and allowing the Strip to devolve into turmoil.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel’s three war goals are to destroy Hamas’ military and governance capabilities, return all hostages, and ensure that Gaza no longer constitutes a threat to Israel.
Netanyahu stated that a demilitarised post-war Gaza would be controlled by a civilian administration with Arab cooperation. He also mentioned a deradicalization process.
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