The plan Israel has outlined for post-war Gaza to its American allies is to run the Strip with the support of powerful local families. But there’s a problem: in a place where Hamas still wields brutal influence, no one wants to be seen talking to the enemy.
Israel is under pressure from Washington to prevent loss of human life and end its military offensive after nearly nine months, but it does not want Hamas to take power after the war.
Therefore, Israeli officials are busy planning further strategies for the next day after the fighting stops.
A key pillar of the plan, according to public statements by key Israeli officials, was to shape an alternative civil administration comprising local Palestinian actors who were not part of the existing structures of power and were willing to work with Israel.
However, the only possible candidates in Gaza for the role – the heads of powerful local families – are not willing to step down, according to interviews conducted by Reuters with five members of prominent families in Gaza, including the head of one group.
Israel is “actively seeking local tribes and families to work with them,” said Tahani Mustafa, a senior Palestine analyst at the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group. “They refused.”
Mustafa, who is in contact with some of the families and other local stakeholders in Gaza, said they do not want to get involved because they fear retaliation from Hamas.
The threat is real, as despite Israel’s clear war aim of destroying Hamas, activists from the Palestinian group are still imposing their will on Gaza’s streets, according to six residents who spoke to Reuters.
Asked what the consequences would be if the heads of Gaza’s powerful families cooperate with Israel, Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, said: “I think the consequences would be fatal.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the challenges last week, saying in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 TV station that the Defense Ministry had already attempted to reach the Gaza tribes but “Hamas overthrew them”.
He said the Defense Ministry has a new plan but did not provide further details about it except to say that it is not keen to involve the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs the occupied West Bank.
Reuters could not ascertain whether Israeli efforts to work with the families were ongoing.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant discussed post-war plans in a meeting with US officials in Washington last week.
Briefing reporters during the visit, Gallant said: “The only solution for Gaza’s future is rule by local Palestinians. It can’t be Israel and it can’t be Hamas.” He did not mention the tribes specifically.
Contacted for comment, a prime ministerial official referred Reuters to Netanyahu’s previous public comments on the subject. Israel’s defence ministry did not respond to Reuters’ questions.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza on October 7 last year in retaliation for a Hamas-led cross-border attack that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and left about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Palestinian health officials say Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed some 38,000 people, most of them civilians. Israel says many of the dead are Palestinian fighters.
Powerful Clans
There are dozens of powerful families in Gaza that operate as a well-organized clan. Many of them have no formal connection to Hamas. They derive their power from controlling businesses and earning the loyalty of hundreds or thousands of relatives. Each family has a leader, known as a mukhtar.
The British colonial rulers of Palestine relied heavily on mukhtars for governance before the state of Israel was created in 1948. After Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, it reduced the families’ power. But they have retained a degree of autonomy.
Israel is already talking to some Gaza merchants to coordinate commercial shipments through the southern checkpoint. Residents are reluctant to disclose any negotiations with Israel.
The Israeli approaches described by members of Gaza’s clans were modest in scope, but they varied: They were about practical issues inside Gaza, and focused on the northern part of the Strip, where Israel says it is focusing its civil governance efforts.
A Gaza tribal leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Israeli authorities had contacted other mukhtars in the past few weeks – though not him. He said he knew because call recipients had told him about the calls.
He said Israeli officials want “some respected and influential people” to help deliver aid to northern Gaza. “I hope Muktar will not cooperate with these games,” he added, citing Israel’s anger over its attacks that have killed clan members and destroyed property.
The man, whose tribe is a major player in agriculture and the Gaza import trade, has no formal ties to Hamas.
In another contact between Israel and influential Gazans, Israeli Defense Ministry officials have contacted two prominent Gaza business owners in the food sector in the past two weeks, said a Palestinian with knowledge of the contacts.
According to the person, it was unclear what the Israeli side wanted to talk about, and business owners in northern Gaza refused to negotiate with the Israelis.
Another senior tribe member said Israeli authorities had not contacted his tribe, but if they did they would be ignored.
“We are not allies. Israel must stop these games,” a member of the tribe, which has no formal ties to Hamas, told Reuters.
Alternative Options
Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said last week that the government had authorized the Israeli armed forces to “find a local leadership that is willing to live side by side with Israel and not spend their lives killing Israelis.”
Speaking through a translator at a conference, he said this process is starting in the northern part of Gaza and its practical results will soon be visible.
Besides civil administration, other pillars of Israel’s plan for post-war Gaza include bringing in outside security forces to maintain order, seeking international help for reconstruction, and seeking a long-term peace settlement.
The Arab countries whose support Israel needs say they will not join unless Israel agrees to a specific timeframe for a Palestinian state — something Netanyahu says he will not be pressured to do.
Throughout the war, Washington has advocated reforms to strengthen the Palestinian Authority (PA) and prepare it to govern Gaza, which it runs.
Netanyahu has said he does not trust the PA, while the PA says it wants to keep Gaza and the West Bank divided. Support for the PA is low among Gazans, according to a June 12 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR).
However, two US officials told Reuters that Netanyahu has no choice but to hand over security to the PA.
“It will be a struggle. But there is no other short or medium term option,” one official said.
Israel has not yet developed any concrete post-war plans for governance and security in the area, the officials said, but asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Both said Israeli officials were considering a number of ideas, but did not provide details.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hamas strengthens its hold
PCPSR surveys show that while some Gazans blame Hamas for provoking the war, others, angered and radicalized by Israel’s invasion, have drawn closer to the group, which has stated its commitment to destroying Israel.
Hamas has acknowledged it is unlikely to rule after the war, but hopes to maintain its influence.
A Gaza resident said he saw members of the Hamas police force on the streets of Gaza City in June, warning merchants against raising prices. They were in plainclothes rather than their usual uniforms and were riding bicycles, the resident said, but asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
Hamas fighters have intervened to control aid shipments, including killing some tribesmen earlier this year who tried to seize aid supplies in Gaza City, according to four city residents who spoke to Reuters.
Hamas declined to comment on the killings.
In April Hamas said its security services had arrested several members of a security apparatus loyal to the Palestinian Authority. Three people close to the PA said those arrested were delivering aid supplies to the northern Gaza Strip.
“There is no vacuum in Gaza; Hamas is still the dominant force,” said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence colonel who now heads the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center, an Israeli research center.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)