From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 28, 2023
War cabinet to discuss Israel’s plan for postwar Gaza for first time
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
For the first time since October 7, the war cabinet will hold a meeting tonight to discuss its plan for who Israel wants to run Gaza after the war, Hebrew media reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been putting off the discussion, angering the Biden administration, which argues that failure to plan for who will govern Gaza after the war will lead to the IDF being bogged down in the enclave indefinitely.
Netanyahu has offered scant details on what he would like to see, sufficing with assertions that Israel will not allow the Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza and that the IDF will maintain overall security control over the enclave.
Tonight’s meeting comes days after his top aide Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer returned from Washington where he discussed the matter with top Biden officials, as the US ups its pressure on Jerusalem to scale back its fighting and prepare for the next phase of the war.
The Times of Israel Community.