Gaza, Feb 24:
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates announced on Friday its rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s post-war plan for the Gaza Strip.
The plan is an official recognition “of the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, and Israel’s imposition of control over it to prolong the war against our people, and an attempt to gain more time to implement the displacement plan,” the ministry said in a statement.
Moreover, the plan is “a blatant manoeuvre to oppose and thwart international efforts to link ceasefire agreements and the release of prisoners and hostages with resolving the conflict and materializing a Palestinian state on the ground”, said the statement.
Netanyahu presented the plan to his Security Cabinet on Thursday night, which outlined principles regarding the management of the Gaza Strip after the conflict.
The plan calls for tightening Israel’s security grip on Gaza. Under the proposed plan, Israel will “maintain operational freedom of military actions throughout the Gaza Strip, without time constraints”, to prevent the resurgence of hostilities from the Palestinian enclave.
Defying international calls for Palestinian statehood after the war, the plan shows Israel plans to maintain “security control” over the entire West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
“Netanyahu’s principles explain the reason for his hostility and exclusion of the legitimate Palestinian authority, and reveal his rejection of the Palestinian state and political solutions to the conflict,” the ministry added.
The Palestinian ministry urged the U.S. administration and the international community to quickly recognise the Palestinian state and support its full membership in the United Nations, and to begin international arrangements to hold a peace conference that “leads to an end of the (Israeli) occupation and enables our people to exercise their right to self-determination freely”.
