Israel and US officials have discussed expelling thousands of lower-level Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip as a possible option to shorten the war between Israel and Hamas, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The proposal rose as part of discussions concerning how Gaza will be run when the war ends and how to prevent a resurgence of Hamas or similar groups.
One proposal which has been developed by the IDF’s think tank which was shown to The Wall Street Journal would involve the creation of “Hamas-free safe zones” that would be ruled by a new Gaza-based authority backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The option to expel Hamas terrorists and their families from the Strip aims to provide the terrorists with an exit strategy and make it easier to rebuild Gaza after the war.
The proposal seemingly would not include higher-up Hamas leaders such as Yahya Sinwar or Mohammed Deif. Israeli officials have said that the two, and other Hamas leaders located both in the Gaza Strip and abroad, are “dead men walking.”
The proposal was compared to the 1982 deal which had then Palestinian Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat and about 11,000 Palestinian terrorists leave Lebanon for Tunisia after a two-month siege of Beirut.
Unclear if Hamas terrorists would accept option to leave Gaza
A senior Israeli official told The Wall Street Journal that it is not clear that Hamas terrorists would accept the option to leave Gaza if it was offered.
“I don’t see them as rational as the PLO was,” said the official. “It’s a more religious, jihadistic organization connected to the ideas of Iran.”
The official added that at the moment there is no “practical discussion” about expelling Hamas terrorists, although that option may become available if there is no other choice.
Another proposal being examined by the IDF is the creation of a “Gaza Restoration Authority” backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that would be tasked with rebuilding a Hamas-free Gaza.
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