Israel defence minister lays out vision for next phase of Gaza war
- Defence Minister Yoav Gallant outlines ‘vision for Phase 3’ of campaign, proposal for post-war Gaza
- Gallant’s plan announced on the eve of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Middle East
Israel’s defence minister laid out his vision for the next phase of the war in Gaza, describing how Israeli forces would shift to an apparently scaled-down “new combat approach” in northern Gaza, while continuing to fight Hamas in the south of the territory “for as long as necessary”.
Ahead of a visit by the US secretary of state, Yoav Gallant on Thursday also outlined a proposal for how Gaza would be run once Hamas is defeated, with Israel keeping security control while an undefined, Israeli-guided Palestinian body runs day-to-day administration, and the US and other countries oversee rebuilding.
Israel has come under heavy international pressure to spell out a post-war vision but so far has not done so.
The issue is likely to be on the agenda in Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s talks this weekend in Israel and other countries in the region.
The United States has pressed Israel to shift to lower-intensity military operations in Gaza that more precisely target Hamas, after nearly three devastating months of bombardment and ground assaults.
The vagueness of many of Gallant’s provisions made it difficult to assess how much they mesh with the US calls.