By Janet Ekstract NEW YORK- Though U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his hopes for an imminent new ceasefire-hostage deal during a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu this week – it appears that the roadblock is Israel’s insistence on keeping a military presence in the southern corridor of the Gaza Strip for the entire proposed 60-day ceasefire. Analysts and experts on the region fear that an Israeli military presence is the beginning of a coerced relocation of the majority of Gaza’s population and an Israeli government plan to keep total control over the Gaza Strip and West Bank region. In a press conference with Trump earlier this week, Netanyahu couched Israel’s intentions in wording that included what the Israeli leader labeled as “options” for Palestinians and insisted that those who want to remain in Gaza can and that those who want to leave can leave. The fact is that observers and critics of Israel’s motives have said that Israeli far-right ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir have clearly stated that Palestinians would be sent to other countries in the region which Arab nations have called out as unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Hamas has called for Israel to withdraw its troops from the region as a condition for any ceasefire-hostage deal to move ahead while the two-state solution which Arab countries have been making provisions for, could end up as simply a pipe dream if the U.S. refuses to push Netanyahu towards a new agreement. A majority of Israelis and political analysts as well as think-tank experts all agree that it’s the U.S. and only the U.S. who has the power to pressure Netanyahu into a permanent ceasefire. With Netanyahu’s far-right government coalition openly opposing a ceasefire-hostage deal once again and opposing an end to the war – the chance of seeing a new ceasefire deal seems slim if it were not for the hostages still being held in Gaza. According to an Israeli official not authorized to speak with the media, Israel wants to keep its forces in the east-west axis known by Israel as the Montag Corridor. This corridor is part of Israel’s plan to send hundreds of thousands of Palestinians south toward a narrow region of land along the border with Egypt termed as a “humanitarian city.”
Rights groups have called Israel’s plan to keep troops along the Morag Corridor, a long-term plan for forced displacement of some two million Palestinians. According to Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at two think tanks – the Institute for National Security Studies and Misgav, Michael told the press that Israel plans to use Morag as a screening zone for Palestinians being moved south to keep Hamas from infiltrating the area. Experts, observers and human rights officials have said that such a plan, opens a path for Israel to expel Palestinians from the territory to control it which is a known goal of the Netanyahu government and his far-right ministers. By continually displacing Palestinians, they have been left with no choice since everything has been destroyed and Israel has been blocking humanitarian aid for months. An Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs and a former military intelligence officer, Michael Milshtein labeled the plan to move Palestinians south through the Morag corridor a “crazy fantasy.” adding that current negotiations could collapse since it demonstrates to Hamas that Israel will not withdraw its forces after the ceasefire expires. Milshtein told the media, that for Hamas, that’s a “no-go” and they most likely won’t agree to it
Hamas is opposed to any permanent Israeli presence inside Gaza and Netanyahu made it clear at his press conference with President Trump that Israel will never give up military control in the region – that it would be akin to “suicide” Netanyahu told the media. On July 8, senior officials from the U.S., Israel and Qatar discussed this point, a White House official told the press. Hamas said in a statement on July 9 that Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza was one of the issues in ceasefire talks. Israel also rejects Hamas being allowed to play any role in governing Gaza which Trump is in agreement with. Neither the U.S. or Israel want a repeat of what happened in Lebanon with Hezbollah – a civilian government ruling with a militant group having major control. For its part, Hamas seeks to see the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) who has been accused of shooting Palestinians on site at aid distribution centers, to end its operations. Rather Hamas has indicated it wants the U.N. and other international organizations to fully resume aid distribution with U.S. officials showing flexibility on this without totally eliminating the GHF presence. At issue, are serious accusations that GHF has gone rogue in its so-called efforts to distribute aid. Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. Daniel Dannon, told reporters last week that he sees a “combination” of GHF and the U.N. administering humanitarian aid in a “day-after” situation for Gaza.
