STABILISATION FORCE
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the group knows of no such proposal by Egypt.
“The day after in Gaza must only be decided by the Palestinians,” he said. “Hamas rejects any attempt to impose projects or any form of non-Palestinian administration, or the presence of any foreign forces on the land of the Gaza Strip.”
The Egyptian draft does not mention future elections.
Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the office of Israel’s prime minister, whose support for any plan is seen as vital to secure a commitment that any future reconstruction will not be destroyed again.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has ruled the coastal enclave since 2007. It launched the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and started the Gaza war.
A January 19 ceasefire brought a temporary end to the fighting but the first phase of the deal expired on Saturday with no sign of an agreement to move to the second phase.
The Egyptian draft does not tackle the issue of what actions could be taken if Hamas refuses to disarm or step aside from politics.
The proposal envisions an International Stabilisation Force drawn primarily from Arab states that would take over the role of providing security from the militant group, with the eventual establishment of a new local police force.
Both security and governance bodies would be “arranged, guided and supervised” by a steering board. The draft said the board would comprise key Arab countries, members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the United States, Britain, the European Union and its member states, and others.
The plan does not detail a central governing role for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which opinion polls show has little support among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
A Palestinian official told Reuters that, like the West Bank, Gaza falls under the PA’s jurisdiction – and it must be run by Palestinians.
“We agreed with the Egyptians on a committee made of Palestinian experts that will help the Palestinian Authority in running the Gaza Strip for six months. The committee is made of Palestinian experts and coordinates with the PA, and doesn’t answer to non-Palestinian bodies,” said the official, who asked not to be named for sensitivity.
