Israel Official Says Still No Plan for Who Controls Gaza After War

Miami Herald

4 days ago

A senior Israeli official has told Newsweek that the country was committed to ensuring Hamas would not rule the Gaza Strip at the end of their ongoing war but had yet to come up with a framework for who controls the Palestinian territory in a post-conflict scenario.
"It's not for us to determine who is going to be there the day after [the war is over]," Tsach Saar, deputy Israeli consul general in New York, told Newsweek. "We are making sure that it's not going to be Hamas. And when Hamas is defeated, we will have to work together with our allies, with regional the countries, surrounding countries, neighboring countries to find a solution for the day after."
"But as long as Hamas is there, and unfortunately, it is still alive and kicking, kicking its own people, of course, also it is hard to work on the day after," he said. "But now we're focused on the mission of elimination as Hamas is the organization that is controlling the Gaza Strip both militarily and in governance."
Saar also reiterated his position that "it won't be Hamas; it won't be Israel" who controls Gaza after the conflict concluded.
The comments came amid a new apparent deadlock in negotiations toward a ceasefire being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar in Doha.
A new proposal submitted by U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff was accepted last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but was met by Hamas with calls from greater guarantees that follow-up negotiations would result in a lasting cessation of hostilities rather than a temporary truce.
The proposal, a draft of which was obtained by Newsweek, includes a 60-day ceasefire from both sides, Hamas' release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages in two stages divided evenly between the first and seventh day of the ceasefire period as well as Israel's release of 1,236 prisoners and 180 bodies of those from Gaza.
On the 10th day of the ceasefire, both sides would disclose information on the condition of those being held by the respective sides.
Israel would also halt military and aerial reconnaissance activity over Gaza for 10 hours each day and up to 12 hours on the days in which hostages and prisoners were swapped. Israeli troops would conduct a redeployment in the Netzarim Corridor and northern Gaza, and the flow of humanitarian assistance from the United Nations and Red Crescent would resume through mutually agreed channels.
The agreement also outlines the immediate convening of follow-up negotiations toward securing a permanent ceasefire as well as the release of all remaining hostages, living and dead. The deal allows for an extension of the temporary ceasefire if a new agreement is not reached within 60 days but does not explicitly mandate any further ceasefire if those talks fail to reach a conclusion.
In a statement shared with Newsweek on Friday, Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson Basem Naim criticized the Israeli position on the agreement, arguing that the country "fundamentally seeks to entrench the occupation and perpetuate policies of killing and starvation, even during what is supposed to be a period of temporary de-escalation."
Yet he said the group was "currently undertaking a thorough and responsible review of the new proposal."
In a follow-up statement sent Saturday after Witkoff referred to Hamas' position as "totally unacceptable," Naim clarified that Hamas "did not reject" his proposal, but rather "the Israeli response, which disagreed with all the provision we had agreed upon."
"Nevertheless, we now responded positively and responsibly in a manner that fulfilled the minimum of demands and aspirations of our people, (1st to guarantee the 60 days of cease fire will be respected by Israel and proper and sufficient influx of aid into Gaza, 2nd guarantees for negotiations that leads to end the war on Gaza)," Naim said.
"Why, each time, is the Israeli response considered the only response for negotiation?" Naim added. "This violates the integrity and fairness of mediation and constitutes a complete bias towards the other side."
Saar, however, categorized Hamas' position as a "very clear no" as he said the "changes they were asking for are fundamental."
"I think that the envoy, Witkoff's, response to that speaks for itself, and he's been working very, very hard to bring a new ceasefire and hostage deal," Saar said. "So, I can understand his and also our disappointment from Hamas. It's not like we expect from them to negotiate in good faith, but that's the situation, a murderous terrorist organization, and this is who we fight against."
The Hamas-led Gaza Government Media Office reported last week that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was effectively in control of around 77 percent of the territory.
Israel previously wielded control over the entirety of Gaza between 1967 and 2005, having seized the coastal Mediterranean strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War and placing it under military occupation before handing control to the Palestinian National Authority (PA) four decades later. During this period, Hamas emerged as a powerful splinter of the Muslim Brotherhood movement with the aim of destroying Israel and establishing an Islamist Palestinian state.
A year after Israel withdrew from Gaza, Hamas came out on top in the last Palestinian elections to ever be held, leading to a violent rift between the group and the PA's leading left-wing Fatah faction. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 and has been in charge ever since.
Israel has fought several wars in Gaza over the past two decades, but the current conflict, sparked by a Hamas-led surprise attack in October 2023, marks the longest and deadliest conflict of its kind. And while past conflicts all ended in ceasefires that left Hamas in control, Netanyahu has asserted from the beginning of the present war that operations would not end until Hamas was dealt a lasting defeat.
Shortly after coming to office in January, President Donald Trump offered his own vision for what a post-war Gaza would look like. His proposal entailed voluntarily resettling Palestinians outside of the territory and the U.S. assuming direct control, during which the development of resorts and other development projects would be pursued.
Trump's suggestion continues to be endorsed by Netanyahu and his government, though it has been met with widespread regional opposition. The plan compelled Arab nations to endorse an Egypt-drafted counterproposal that would see Gaza instead come under the temporary control of an administrative committee comprised of Palestinian technocrats, later to be returned to the control of a reformed PA.
Both the U.S. and Israel have largely rejected the Arab alternative plan, while Hamas has welcomed it. Naim told Newsweek at the time that the group was open to ceding power peacefully to a Palestinian expert-led government.
On Sunday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas affirmed that his government was prepared to assume leadership over Gaza, saying such a move was "vital for peace and security to prevail in Gaza."
Abbas, who succeeded longtime Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chair Yasser Arafat upon his death in late 2004, also called on Hamas to put an end to the conflict by releasing hostages.
"Hamas must relinquish control of the Gaza Strip, which it seized by force through its coup against Palestinian legitimacy in 2007," Abbas said during a virtual address to an Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee meeting, as cited by Sky News Arabia. "This coup must end, along with its negative effects that have harmed the Palestinian cause."
"The hostages must be handed over to stop the shedding of Palestinian blood and to release prisoners," Abbas added. "A ceasefire must be achieved at all costs, and the entry of relief and humanitarian aid must be provided, and Palestine must assume its civil and security responsibilities in the Gaza Strip."
He said Hamas would be eligible to rejoin a united Palestinian government only if the group chose to "adhere to the commitments and policies of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in accordance with the concept of one state, one law and one legitimate weapon."
The meeting included representatives of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who had been blocked by Israel from attending in-person talks originally set to be held in the West Bank, which has also come under growing Israeli control despite the power-sharing agreements reached as part of the 1990s Oslo peace accords.
Clashes have persisted in Gaza as talks play out in Qatar. In March, Israel scrapped an existing ceasefire agreement reached in January by both Trump's incoming team, led by Witkoff, and the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, citing an inability to agree on how to advance the second stage of the deal.
The IDF announced on Sunday new developments in which Israeli troops "expanded ground operations, eliminated terrorists, and dismantled weapons storage facilities and numerous terrorist infrastructure sites above and below ground," in line with the intensified "Operation Gideon's Chariots" launched last month in Gaza.
The Israeli Air Force also "struck dozens of targets throughout the Gaza Strip. Among the targets struck were terrorist cells, military structures belonging to the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip, tunnel routes, weapons storage facilities, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites," according to the IDF.
Further Israeli operations were witnessed throughout Monday, while Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades and other allied Palestinian factions have continued to claim new operations of their own, including a series of mortar and rocket attacks against IDF positions in southern Gaza in recent days.
Hamas also alleged that Israel had committed war crimes in a statement issued Monday, accusing the IDF of "killing 3 starving civilians and injuring 35 others near so-called 'aid distribution centers' in Rafah, continuing a policy of starvation and systematic targeting of civilians that has been taking place for 93 days."
Israel's operations, along with its practice of blocking international organizations from distributing humanitarian aid, except for the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund, have drawn growing international condemnation, including from other U.S. allies.
Saar, for his part, rejected this criticism and placed the blame on Hamas, who he accused of looting aid and shooting at civilians trying to collect it, including during another incident that took place Sunday at a distribution center. Local authorities attributed the gunfire to the IDF, which denied responsibility.
Saar argued that the attempts to blame Israel, including from European governments, were the "result of a yearslong process of incitement and indoctrination that people have been going through" and intensified as Israel advanced toward its goals of defeating Hamas.
"I ask myself also now, like when we're finally so close to breaking that grip of Hamas, why is the world so suddenly outraged?" Saar said. "I mean, there have been peaks and lows in the discourse around what's going on in Gaza, but now we see even with the American fund. We see it's working. What's happening with the UN? Why is the UN against it? Why are people against it and then spreading blood libel, of starvation, of genocide."
"If there's a starvation, if there's famine in Gaza, why are you against this move, which is so meaningful, to bring the aid directly to the people who need it, instead of supporting it," Saar continued.
But while he affirmed that Israel had advanced toward its goal of defeating Hamas, including the recent killing of the group's latest Gaza chief, Mohammed Sinwar, he acknowledged that Hamas remained capable of continuing the fight.
"There are still some local senior military leaders of these organizations," Saar said. "They have also have their leadership outside of Gaza, and there are some, let's say prominent figure command the military, organize the activities of Hamas in Gaza. They are operating more and more as a guerilla organization, and this is what we want, to dismantle their capabilities."
"Just yesterday, they fired missiles in Israel," he added. "So, we see they still have their capabilities even if there's not a central command. But we are getting there. We are getting there."
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