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"The Day After" in Gaza: Fantasy vs. Reality

(Ynet News) Dr. Michael Milshtein - The image in Israel of a "Hamas-less Gaza" reflects a yearning, but the reality on the ground is utterly different. Hamas is the most dominant force in Gaza, despite having sustained unprecedented blows. In practice, to achieve this involves taking over all of Gaza, while delivering critical blows to Hamas (on both military and governmental levels), while remaining onsite and attempting to cultivate a local alternative. It will also require the allocation of many resources and forces for the takeover and extended stay, leading to ongoing threats of guerilla warfare, and probably friction with the Arab world and international community. A second option is to examine the initiative being advocated by Egypt for an alternative government in Gaza based on the rule of the Palestinian Authority and unaffiliated representatives. However, in this case Hamas will remain and certainly have an impact behind the scenes on all areas. Such a situation will be far from satisfactory and should be seen as a temporary solution. The basic assumption would have to be that Hamas will forever seek to harm Israel and instill its vision of annihilating it to the greater public, rendering coexistence impossible. Thus, taking over Gaza in its entirety seems inevitable, and will have to be done in the future. The writer is head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at the Dayan Center of Tel Aviv University.
2025-02-20 00:00:00
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