The Israel Broadcasting Corporation: A Green Light is given to Move to the final phase in Gaza
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation said that the political level in Israel has given the Israeli army the green light to gradually move this month to the third and final phase of the war on Gaza.
The decision was taken because of the exchange deal issue and tension on the northern front to avoid the spread of war, according to the Commission.
The third phase will include the Israeli forces remaining in the Netzarim and Philadelphia axes and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip in order to maintain pressure on Hamas if an exchange deal isn’t reached.
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation explained that the green light given to the occupation army will allow the continuation of the military operation, but in a different form.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is approaching the end of the phase of eliminating the military capabilities of Hamas and that it will continue to destroy it.
Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the imposition of military rule in the Gaza Strip, saying that the occupation of the Strip would prevent the return of Hamas and the restoration of its military capabilities.
During a meeting with members of his Religious Zionist party, Smotrich declared his total opposition to stopping the war without achieving its stated goals by the Israeli government.
Netanyahu’s office has privately backed down in recent weeks from its opposition to the participation of individuals linked to the Palestinian Authority in running Gaza after the war against Hamas, three officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
The development comes after Netanyahu’s office for months directed the security establishment not to include the Palestinian Authority in any of its plans to run Gaza after the war, according to two Israeli officials who said it significantly hampered efforts to formulate realistic proposals for what was reached.
Publicly, Netanyahu continues to reject the idea of the Palestinian Authority ruling the Gaza Strip, telling Israel’s Channel 14 last week that he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state in the coastal region while saying he wasn’t ready to hand over Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.
Instead, Netanyahu told the right-wing network that he wanted to create “a civil administration — if possible with local Palestinians, hopefully with the support of countries in the region”.
But Netanyahu’s top aides have privately concluded that individuals with ties to the Palestinian Authority are the only viable option for Israel if it wants to rely on local Palestinians to run Gaza’s civil affairs after the war.
Two Israeli officials said the individuals involved were Gazans, who receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority and who ran civil affairs in the Strip until Hamas violently seized power in 2007 and are now being vetted by Israel.
