Ahead of tonight’s (Sunday) security cabinet meeting, Gaza border regional council heads sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cabinet ministers demanding a public commitment that no reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will proceed and no IDF forces will withdraw under the emerging deal before Hamas is completely and verifiably disarmed and its rule in the Strip ended.
4+The letter is signed by Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council head Uri Eshstein and Eshkol Regional Council head Michal Uziyahu. The two are responding to plans presented by the Peace Council on the sidelines of last week’s UN General Assembly, which include advancing reconstruction in Gaza, deploying international forces, and a gradual IDF withdrawal.
The regional heads make clear that for them, the condition for any progress isn’t limited to disarming Hamas, but also eliminating its ability to continue ruling the Strip behind the scenes. They say Hamas’s command structures, terror infrastructure, and weapons production must be dismantled, and Hamas must be prevented from ruling through proxy figures or controlling funds and resources flowing into Gaza reconstruction.
4+In the letter they demand the government make a public commitment that no reconstruction effort and no withdrawal will be carried out before these conditions are met. Even deploying an international force, they say, isn’t sufficient on its own, and its authorities and actual ability to enforce the dismantling of the threat and prevent its resurgence must be examined.
“We will not accept a return to a reality where a terror organization builds strength beyond the fence, and our residents are asked to rely on assessments about its intentions,” they wrote, adding that “the commitment to changing the security reality must be realized on the ground.”
4+The regional heads’ letter comes against the backdrop of another dispute surrounding the plans the Board of Peace is advancing. Days earlier, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Missions Minister Orit Strock sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming that the plan presented by Board of Peace officials contradicts understandings reached with Israel.
According to the ministers’ letter, the Board of Peace presented 66 reconstruction projects costing $2.45 billion ready for immediate implementation, alongside $885 million for “security expenses.” Additionally, immediate deployment of 500 multinational force soldiers was presented, followed by establishment of a base in Rafah for 5,000 soldiers.
4+But according to Smotrich and Strock, the understanding reached with Israel was different, stipulating that all reconstruction, all entry of foreign forces, and all IDF withdrawal would not occur before complete demilitarization of the entire Gaza Strip.
The two claimed that presenting a process where demilitarization occurs area by area, with new governance entering each evacuated area and the IDF withdrawing, is effectively an attempt to revive the “roadmap” that Israel already announced it would not accept.
4+In their letter the ministers also raised another gap: they said the cabinet approved entry of only 200 international force soldiers, while the presented plan spoke of 500 soldiers immediately and thousands later. They further claimed that Hamas isn’t disarming, but continues to arm itself, grow stronger, and train, and therefore in their view there’s no feasibility to beginning reconstruction projects at this stage.
Now the Gaza border regional heads are joining the pressure, demanding this principle become a public Israeli commitment: first dismantle Hamas and end its rule, and only then can reconstruction of the Strip be discussed.