Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel must control Philadelphi corridor on border between Egypt and Gaza, but adds civil administration of Gaza should be handled by Gazans.
Israel must control the frontier between the Gaza Strip and Egypt even after civil administration of the Strip is handed over to Gazans, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published Thursday.
Speaking with Time Magazine, Netanyahu hinted at some of the likely outlines of a post-war arrangement for administering the Gaza Strip, once Israel has achieved its goals of dismantling the Hamas terror organization and freeing the remaining captives held in Gaza.
The Israeli premier emphasized the need for “demilitarization and de-radicalization” of the Gaza Strip, adding that the IDF would need to ensure demilitarization “for the foreseeable future.”
Specifically, Netanyahu continued, this will require the Israeli military to maintain control over the Philadelphi Corridor – the area along the Gaza-Egypt frontier which includes the southern edge of Rafah – long a center of smuggling activity across the border.
Along with Israel’s permanent presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, Netanyahu hinted that the IDF would have to take responsibility for security throughout the Strip “until another force emerges.”
Israel, he said “will have to have the job of actually, the overriding security responsibility of taking action against any attempt at terrorist resurgence.”
However, Israel’s administration of the Gaza Strip would be limited to security, Netanyahu suggested, calling for “a civilian administration run by Gazans,” and alluding to a possible international administrative body backed by moderate Arab states.
“Demilitarization by Israel, civilian administration by Gaza.”
The outline roughly mirrors the status of large swaths of Judea and Samaria in what is called Area B, which is administered under joint Israeli and Palestinian Authority control, with the IDF providing security and the PA civil administration.
Regarding de-radicalization, Netanyahu said that the education system in Gaza must be reformed, as well as “what is taught in the mosque,” without provided details as to how the reforms might be accomplished.
“This is essentially what the United States did in the post-war period in Germany and Japan. It did demilitarization and it did de-radicalization, and those countries have been in peace with the United States for close to a century now.”