Blinken says US, partners will present plans for post-war Gaza in coming weeks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the US and its partners will release its plans for the post-war management of Gaza in the coming weeks.

He says that in order to have an enduring end to the war, there must be planning for the “day after” completed “as soon as possible.”

Blinken doesn’t specify that Israel is the party that must present those plans. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has chafed calls for “day after” planning for months, arguing that they are largely futile so long as Hamas is still in power.

Meanwhile, the US has worked with the Arab world to advance a post-war vision.

“In the coming weeks, we will put forward proposals for key elements of the day-after — planning that includes concrete ideas for how to manage governance, security, reconstruction,” Blinken says in a press conference with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha.

The top US diplomat acknowledges that Hamas will determine whether or not the war will continue, but later insists that “Hamas cannot and will not be allowed to decide the future for this region.”