Netanyahu wants 'demilitarized, civilian' rule in Gaza with UAE, Saudi help
The Prime Minister vowed to 'stand alone' in invading Rafah despite having plenty of US weapons
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed his expectations for the future governance of Gaza after the war on 10 May, saying that he wishes to see a demilitarized civilian government supported by the UAE and Saudi Arabia ruling the enclave.
In an interview with US television talk show host Dr Phil, Netanyahu said, “I think we’ll have to assure continuous demilitarization because, even if you destroy the terrorist army, you can have individual terrorists left. We have to uh root them out constantly.”
“We’ll probably have to have some kind of civilian government, civilian administration, by Gazans who are not committed to our destruction, possibly, I think, with the aid of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and other countries that I think want to see stability and peace,” he added.
In the seven months since the war began, Netanyahu has refused to clearly state his objective for Gaza beyond wishing to destroy Hamas. Right-wing Ministers in his government claim they want to see Gaza itself destroyed and depopulated to pave the way for Jewish colonization and settlement of the strip.
US officials have claimed they wish to see Gaza ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which holds administrative control of the West Bank. Palestinians widely view the PA as a corrupt collaborator with Israel’s military occupation of the territory.
Netanyahu’s comments came amid the ongoing Israeli assault on Rafah, which has caused over 100,000 already displaced Palestinians to flee the air force’s bombs.
The prime minister added that Israel will continue to intervene militarily in Gaza moving forward. “But we’re going to have Israel continually root out terrorists because I don’t see anyone coming in to do that right now… I’d love to see that, but I don’t see it, so we’ll continue to take action against the remnants of the terrorist army,” he stressed.
US President Biden has publicly cautioned Netanyahu against launching the assault on Rafah and has reportedly threatened to cut off some weapons shipments to Israel in response.
In a video statement on Friday, Netanyahu claimed, “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.”
However, Israeli Army Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari stated Thursday that Israel has all the weapons it needs for the assault on Rafah, suggesting Biden’s threats are only rhetorical.
“The IDF has armaments for the missions it is planning, including missions in Rafah. We have what we need,” Hagari said, responding to a question at a press conference.