Israel’s security chiefs said seeking multi-national force to take charge of Gaza when war ends

Israel’s security establishment has drawn up proposals for the post-war governance of Gaza, Channel 12 reports, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s view of the proposals is not known.

The security chiefs favor the establishment of a multinational force to take overall control of the Strip, with the US, France and Germany among the participants.

Reporting to this force would be an administrative mechanism including Gaza-based clerks from the Palestinian Authority and local Gaza businesspeople.

The report does not specify how long this arrangement would be expected to remain in force.

Israel also wants to see the construction of a subterranean barrier along the Philadelphi Corridor all along the Gaza-Egypt border, to prevent smuggling of weapons and components through tunnels into the Strip.

Israel also seeks the construction of a new goods crossing terminal at Rafah, with international and Israeli supervision.

The report says these proposals will be shared with senior US figures in the coming days.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown is due in Israel tomorrow, it notes, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected on Monday.

The report also says that the security establishment is “weighing” the notion of seeking a deal for the release of all the hostages in Gaza that would include allowing Hamas’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar to leave the Strip. This unsourced report notes, however, that the security establishment believes massive military pressure on Hamas offers the best prospect for freeing the hostages.