Transfer of power as a goal

Israel works on secret plan for Gaza aid

Masked members of the "People's Protection Committee" on a truck with relief supplies for Rafah - Such groups distribute food and control the skyrocketing prices.(Bild: APA/AFP/MOHAMMED ABED)

According to a media report, Israeli security officials are secretly working on a plan for the distribution of aid in the Gaza Strip by unencumbered Palestinians. After the end of the war, these could then fill the power vacuum in the area.

According to the plan, Palestinian leaders and businessmen who have no links to the Islamist Hamas are to be recruited for the distribution of aid. This could then lead to the creation of a Palestinian-led governing authority in the embattled coastal strip, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing Israeli and Arab officials. A senior Israeli defense official has been in talks with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan to gain regional support for such efforts.

Arab countries to fund security forces
According to the plan, the aid would arrive in the Gaza Strip by land and sea after an Israeli inspection and be taken to storage facilities in the center of the embattled area, where the Palestinians would then distribute it. Once the war was over, those responsible for the aid would take over the administration of the Gaza Strip, backed by security forces funded by wealthy Arab governments, the US newspaper further quoted the officials as saying.

Masked members of the "People's Protection Committee" on a truck carrying aid to Rafah - Such groups distribute food and control skyrocketing prices.(Bild: APA/AFP/MOHAMMED ABED)

Attempts at contact met with rejection
Amid the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, local groups and clans have recently emerged to help distribute international aid and control food prices. According to US broadcaster NPR, Israel has already made attempts to recruit members of clans in conflict with Hamas for government jobs. However, many local leaders would reject this, according to an online report.

These are the first efforts on the Israeli side to fill the power vacuum created by Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip following Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7. The US and Arab governments are pressuring Israel to do more to provide humanitarian aid to the suffering people of Gaza and to outline a vision for post-war administration.

Autonomous Authority takeover?
If the US government has its way, the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank and is led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is to be restructured and also take back control of the Gaza Strip. In doing so, Washington also wants to promote a two-state solution as a comprehensive approach to pacifying the Middle East. Such a solution means an independent Palestinian state that exists peacefully side by side with Israel.

However, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects this, as does Hamas. The latter expelled the PA from Gaza in 2007. Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Israel will claim full security control over Gaza after the war.