Afrasianet - Jamal Zahalka - After days of official silence on the implementation plan for the second phase of the Gaza Agreement, announced by US President Donald Trump, the Israeli prime minister released a tape in which he said: "President Trump and his advisers believe they can disarm Hamas and dearm Gaza.
They sent us a draft and we didn't agree to it and we sent our comments." The statements of what the Israeli media call a "high-level political source," a nickname for Netanyahu himself, when he wants to speak without his name, said: "The agreement is bad and offensive to Israel. We will continue to thwart any threat to our soldiers and citizens.
There will be no withdrawal until Hamas is completely disarmed." Sharon, for example, agreed to President George W. Bush's "road plan," with the addition of 14 observations that he completely blew up. In his statement, Netanyahu announced that he did not agree with Trump's plan, and that he would send notes to justify his rejection of it.
His rejection of the plan appears to be much stronger than he has stated, and he is trying to show some diplomatic decency so as not to provoke Trump.
Netanyahu refuses to even commit to the first phase of the Gaza agreement, let alone the second phase, as he stated this week that "we have ordered our soldiers to do whatever is necessary to defend themselves, our lands and our citizens," which means rejecting the ceasefire, and added, "We will not withdraw from the current lines until Hamas is completely disarmed," which means that he refuses to withdraw from the orange line, which surrounds about 65% of the territory of the Gaza Strip, to the yellow line, which he committed to according to the G20 plan The original point contains 53% of the area of Gaza.
It is not inconceivable that Netanyahu wants to keep the Gaza card inflamed, so that he has the possibility and ability to ignite an all-out war to postpone the elections, if he smells the smell of loss.
These two rejections are a blow up of two of Israel's main demands in the plan to implement the second phase: a cessation of military aggression and a withdrawal to the original Yellow Line.
These are two conditions that Israel committed to in the first phase and today it does not accept them, even within the framework of the second phase.
Netanyahu rejects the new plan for many reasons, including the current calculation of the parliamentary elections in Israel, which will be held in less than three months.
It is clear that it is almost impossible for the Netanyahu government to make any "concession" in the form of a withdrawal or an actual ceasefire in Gaza, especially since it is under sweeping attack from the opposition, which accuses it of failing on October 7 and of failing to achieve the goals of the war in Gaza.
It is not inconceivable that Netanyahu wants to keep the Gaza card inflamed, so that he has the possibility and ability to ignite an all-out war to postpone the elections, as he did during the October 1973 war, if he smells the smell of losing the elections.
Israel's Conditions
Israel's conditions for Gaza are of a heavy impossible, they include open demands, which, if accepted and even implemented, Israel can claim that there is a need for more and more, even for the people of Gaza to join the World Zionist Organization as a condition for survival.
The most important of these conditions can be summarized as follows:
The prerequisite for the cessation of the war and for any Israeli withdrawal is the complete disarmament of Hamas and others, and its annihilation or handing over to a party acceptable to Israel.
This includes all types of weapons from pistols to missiles, as well as tunnels and production plants. This demand is being formulated to allow Israel to claim for years that the process is not over. Israel rejects the survival of Hamas as a political movement, as well as the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, and reluctantly accepts independent Palestinian figures not affiliated with the Palestinian national movement.
It "accepts" the American tutelage of governance in Gaza through the window of the "Peace Council" and its branches. Israel, the government, the opposition, and the army, insists on full security control over Gaza within the framework of any solution, and responds to the plan for the implementation of the second phase in Gaza by stipulating freedom of military action in the areas it currently controls, as well as adhering to what it calls action against threats on the ground, i.e. the "right" not to abide by the ceasefire under the false banner of self-defense.
The Peace Council seems to agree to this Israeli condition, as it changed the wording from a complete withdrawal to a withdrawal behind the Yellow Line, leaving Israel with wide areas for permanent control over it.
The reason is that it does not want a solution or reconstruction, it seeks mass displacement and strangulation of Gaza to facilitate its implementation.
Displacement
In an interview this week with far-right "intellectual" Gadi Taub, Netanyahu again brought up the displacement project, saying, "There are two places in the world that you can't get out of:
North Korea and the Gaza Strip. People simply can't get out of the Gaza Strip, and countries refuse to take them in because it helps Israel. I ask: What about helping the people of Gaza?
Why don't they have that basic right to freedom of movement that billions of people around the world have?" Regardless of the language of "demagoguery for beginners," Netanyahu has embraced Israel's strategic decision to stop using the term "displacement or even voluntary displacement" — due to international criticism and as a cover for the crime of transfer — and to use the official Israeli propaganda term "Free Movement Plan" and its derivatives.
In the interview, Netanyahu said that no one is forcing the people of Gaza to leave, as most of them want to, and he spoke emotionally about the right of the people of Gaza to freedom of movement and was creative in turning the horrific crime into a human right!
Netanyahu is not alone, and all his cabinet ministers support the displacement of Hamas and see it as the "only lasting solution" for Gaza.
In a radio interview, Israeli Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Gila Gamliel stated that her plan to displace Gazans to Sinai is still in place, adding, "I believe that there will be a 'voluntary migration' in Gaza."
Public opinion polls have shown that the majority of the Israeli public supports the displacement project. There are security and political considerations for Israel's rejection of the solution projects in Gaza, but keeping the displacement project "feasible" remains one of the most important factors governing the Israeli position.
This explains Israel's frantic effort to prevent the reconstruction of Gaza, because it remains a hope for the people of the Gaza Strip to return to a normal life with food, water, medicine, treatment, education, work, homes and vital facilities.
In Israel's view, this torpedoes the transfer project and keeps the people of Gaza in Gaza. The displacement project in Gaza is still a threat, and Israel is waiting for a favorable opportunity to implement it.
But the road to this goal is very dangerous, because it means keeping the living conditions of the people in Gaza unbearable, so that displacement remains ready to be implemented.
The goal is dangerous and the road to it is no less dangerous. It is clear that the battle in Gaza is both existential and border-based, and it requires a unified Palestinian position and a supportive Arab position, far from marginal calculations, which is certainly marginal in the historical balance.
The Palestinians are required to unite the struggle and end the division, and the Arab states are required to mobilize pressure on the Government of Israel to corner it and prevent it from continuing to commit its crimes without accountability.
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Jamal Zahalka - Palestinian writer and researcher
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