Hamas agrees to post-war plan that would put Gaza under US supervision

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

On Tuesday, a Qatari newspaper published a proposal that Hamas is willing to discuss that involves a committee controlling Gaza after the war and supervised by the United States, Ynet reports.

The paper printed the “Community Support Committee for the Management of the Gaza Strip” document, which proposes a committee to oversee Gaza after the war under US supervision.

Following discussions between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo last Saturday, it was proposed that a committee of experts would govern Gaza with the supervision of US officials.

The plan, which Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has not yet approved, would include a committee in charge of health, the economy, education, agriculture, essential services, and the ongoing reconstruction efforts.

The structure includes a committee of 10 to 15 members chosen for integrity and transparency. At the head will be a president, a vice president, and officials who will specialize in education, health, economic issues, local governance, reconstruction, and communication with foreign entities.

In addition, an official will be responsible for oversight of the Rafah border where Hamas smuggled weapons into Gaza leading up to the war.

If Hamas officially approves the proposal, it would mark a dramatic change from the terror group’s former insistence on having complete control over Gaza and its rejection of agreements involving cooperation with international entities.

The proposal is reminiscent of the ceasefire in Lebanon, which has international oversight of the southern region.

However, such a proposal may fall short of Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas, and Israel may want military control over areas of Gaza, particularly the Philadelphi corridor, as articulated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has declared that Israel must control this nine-mile-long line or else Hamas will easily rearm, rebuild, and become a new “existential” threat to the Jewish state within a few years’ time. Most of the Israeli public agrees that holding the Corridor is of utmost importance to Israel’s security.