Israel has formally rejected the Trump administration-backed 15-point Gaza plan, but behind the scenes Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has reportedly reached understandings with the Board of Peace on several of the proposal’s central provisions, including the disarmament of Hamas, mechanisms for monitoring the process and urgent humanitarian issues in the Gaza Strip.
According to a report by Israel Hayom, the quiet understandings were reached despite Jerusalem’s public insistence that the 15-point framework presented by the Board of Peace is unacceptable. Significant disagreements remain, however, particularly over what Hamas disarmament would actually entail.
The political calendar is further complicating efforts to move the process forward. With elections approaching in both Israel and the United States, Israeli officials are reportedly reluctant to take steps that could be portrayed domestically as concessions, raising the likelihood that major decisions will be postponed.
The most serious dispute centers on Hamas’s weapons. Nikolay Mladenov, a representative of the Board of Peace, has reportedly made clear that the agreement requires Hamas to surrender all of its weapons and provide maps identifying its tunnel network.
Hamas, however, is presenting a sharply different interpretation. Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan claims the understandings call only for the organization’s heavy weapons to be transferred to the control of a Palestinian technocratic government, with the process overseen by Palestinian “resistance” organizations and without foreign involvement.
Hamas is also reportedly refusing to surrender its weapons to the multinational force that is supposed to operate in Gaza. The terror group is additionally opposing Shin Bet security screening of Hamas personnel seeking to join the new police force envisioned for the Strip.
The Board of Peace and the Trump administration are reportedly attempting to use Hamas’s deteriorating financial position as leverage to force the terror organization to accept the disarmament demands. Hamas has struggled to pay salaries and collect taxes, leaving the organization under mounting economic pressure.
Israeli officials remain deeply skeptical that Hamas will ultimately honor any commitments it makes. The assessment in Jerusalem is reportedly that Hamas will accuse Israel of violating its obligations and use those allegations to justify failing to carry out its own commitments, potentially leaving the process stalled until after the elections.
At the same time, Israel and the Board of Peace have reached understandings on several urgent civilian issues. Plans are being advanced to address sewage and sanitation problems in Gaza before the winter, including concerns that untreated sewage could eventually contaminate the coastline near Ashkelon.
A proposed reopening of the Erez Crossing has meanwhile been frozen. Netanyahu and the defense minister reportedly reversed course on the matter following pressure from right-wing organizations.
Disagreements have also emerged over the entry of tents into Gaza, amid Israeli concerns that some materials brought into the Strip could be repurposed for the manufacture of weapons.
Responsibility for physically collecting Hamas’s weapons is supposed to fall to the International Stabilization Force, or ISF, a multinational force that has yet to become operational.
Military representatives from countries expected to participate in the force, including Uganda, Morocco and Kosovo, have already visited areas where the ISF is expected to deploy. The actual troops, however, are reportedly unlikely to arrive in the near future.
Israel Hayom reported that several unresolved obstacles are delaying the deployment. Israel wants agreement on precisely how Hamas’s weapons will be surrendered, stored and ultimately destroyed, while Hamas continues to reject handing its arsenal to a non-Palestinian force.
The countries expected to contribute troops to the ISF are also wary of placing their soldiers in a position where they could become embroiled in armed confrontations with Hamas.
In a statement issued over the weekend, the Board of Peace said it had delivered a direct message to Hamas through intermediaries demanding an immediate end to all armed activity emanating from Gaza, including the recent launching of kites into Israeli territory.
The Board of Peace also conveyed a message to Israel regarding its obligations under the ceasefire, stressing that all parties must abide by the agreement.
It further told Israel that military operations cannot continue beyond what is necessary to respond to genuine and immediate threats, underscoring the delicate balance Washington and the Board of Peace are attempting to maintain as they push both sides toward implementation of the Gaza framework.
{Matzav.com}
