Egypt, Qatar reject Israeli proposal to control civil administration in post-war Gaza
As the war in Gaza rages on, international parties struggle to come up with solutions for post-war administration for rebuilding the Strip and assisting the civilian population.
Egypt, Qatar, and other Arab countries rejected Israel's proposal to control the civil administration in the Gaza Strip the day after the war, the Saudi-affiliated Al-Arabiya network reported on Saturday.
Earlier, the United Arab Emirates also announced its refusal of the plan. The Emirate's foreign minister criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, "Netanyahu has no legal authority to invite us to participate in the civil administration of the Gaza Strip."
Additionally, a senior Egyptian source said that Cairo informed all parties concerned that Israel bears responsibility for the deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden referred to governance in Gaza the day after the war, stating, "We are working with Arab countries that are ready to take over the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip the day after the war and promote the establishment of a Palestinian state according to the vision of the two countries."
According to a report by Sky News Arabia, a private American company will take over the management of the Rafah crossing until the Palestinian Authority receives the task from the Palestinian side. Washington informed the Palestinian Authority that the Rafah crossing would be closed. In response, Palestinian factions said, "We will deal with the issues of any plan to take control of the Rafah crossing as we will deal with the occupation."
The Palestinian sources also said that they "will not accept any form of guardianship of the Rafah crossing from any party."
Sources also told the Lebanese Al-Akhbar network that "after the failure of several previous attempts, the head of the General Intelligence Service of the Palestinian Authority, General Majed Faraj, is attempting to bring members of his agency into the Gaza Strip, in preparation for the day after the war and to prepare for managing the civilian administration of the Strip."
IDF calls on Palestinians to evacuate from areas in northern Gaza
In the meantime, the IDF called on the 150,000 residents of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area on Saturday in preparation for the renewed entry of the IDF into Jabalya. At the same time, the IDF began evacuating two neighborhoods in eastern Rafah that are located near the IDF's activities.
Until now, the IDF emphasized that troops have not yet entered the two neighborhoods in eastern Rafah. The IDF's activity continued in the Zeitoun neighborhood in southern Gaza City, and the IDF said that more tunnels were found, as well as weapons.
The defense establishment continued to criticize the political echelon's inability to make decisions regarding the day after. Against this background, the IDF is unable to establish a governing alternative to Hamas, which, for its part, is constantly working to restore its capabilities in places where the IDF operated and departed at the beginning of the war.
"Whoever feeds the people in Gaza has a chance to rule. Even if we finish what was done in Rafah and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, if there is no one to accept the territory, Hamas will try to continue to rehabilitate and operate," the IDF says.
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