English translation of "controversial" Tzachi Hanegbi Arabic Op Ed in Elaph - What about the next day after the victory over Hamas?

English translation of Tzachi Hanegbi Arabic Op Ed in Elaph – What about the next
day after the victory over Hamas?
Dr. Aaron Lerner 21 December 2023

The following is a translation of the OpEd which National Security Adviser
Tzachi Hanegbi reportedly wrote on behalf of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Since then a senior Israeli official explained to reporters, among them the
Times of Israel, that there can be no role for the Palestinian Authority in
Gaza after the war because it cannot be trusted to fulfill Israel’s
requirements, including demilitarizing the territory, and instead that
Israel “wants civilian life in Gaza to be run by a “local administration of
Palestinians” that is “able to work for the future horizon of the
Palestinian people with help of moderate Arab countries.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/hanegbis-words-misunderstood-pa-cant-rule-post
-war-gaza-senior-israeli-official/
—–
The head of the National Security Council in Israel writes:
The War of the Iron Swords and the Day That Follows
Tzachi Hanegbi
Op Ed Elaph 20 December 2023

Url for original Arabic article
https://elaph.com/Web/ElaphWriter/2023/12/1523242.html

Google translation

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched war on Israel. It is a war for which this
terrorist organization has prepared well over many years.

There is no doubt that it was a black day in the history of the State of
Israel and the Jewish people, as about 1,300 men, women, old men, boys,
girls, children, and infants were slaughtered, burned, and raped, while 240
Israelis (Jews and Muslims) and foreign nationals were kidnapped to the Gaza
Strip, about 130 of whom still remain. Hostages in intolerable conditions by
Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Unlike our enemies, we have no intention of hiding the truth, lying to
ourselves and the world, or pretending to mislead people. Our enemies feed
you, male and female citizens across the Arab world, with lies and fake news
over and over again. They claim that Israel is committing genocide and
randomly targeting innocent people. They even claim that there are and have
never been tunnels for military purposes under hospitals, schools and
civilian buildings, and they claim that we are the ones who killed them.
Participants in the music festival held near our border with Gaza.

The sad thing is that many of you tend to believe these lies. What is more
regrettable than that is that even if we took each of you to see with your
own eyes what Hamas did in Gaza, many of you would still believe that the
“Zionist enemy” is lying. I suggest you wake up and see reality as it is.

And let’s be honest and speak frankly.

The war against Hamas was imposed on Israel in the wake of the brutal
massacre of our citizens, and it was not our choice.

Indeed, war is a cruel thing. Since the IDF began its operations against
Hamas by air, sea and land, uninvolved Palestinian residents have also been
killed and wounded.

Unfortunately, this cannot be avoided, and it is likely that civilians will
also be injured during the later stages of the war.

However, Israel has done and continues to do everything in its power to
avoid harming innocent people.

Unlike Hamas, which spent many years building tunnels instead of shelters
for its citizens, and even placed responsibility for the fate of Gazan
civilians on the United Nations (Musa Abu Marzouk, October 31, 2023), we
worked tirelessly to allow civilians to leave the combat zones, and we
worked to evacuate hospitals and buildings. Residential areas, and we
created safe areas for hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the
north and south of the Gaza Strip.

We have allowed thousands of tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza, as well as
providing shelter, clean water and basic supplies.

Over the past two decades, the miserable residents of the Gaza Strip have
been victims of a bloody and brutal terrorist organization. Hamas leaders
did not provide any means to bend the people of Gaza to their will, and
instead of making the Strip a pearl on the shore of the Mediterranean, they
made it the crowded, poor and miserable place it is today.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have reached Gaza, but not to the people who
need it. Rather, they invested in the industry of terrorism and death: in
paving hundreds of kilometers of lined tunnels, financing factories that
produce missiles and explosive devices, and paying the salaries of men who
were incited and trained from morning until night to kill Jews in their beds
and kidnap children from their cribs.

Yes, this war will be long, brutal and painful. And Israel will win. We have
no other choice, and we will not compromise the safety of our citizens. We
will fight with courage and strength against all our enemies. Those who
thought we were afraid were wrong, and those who claimed that we are a
country weaker than a spider’s web were wrong. Our best sons and daughters
are ready these days to sacrifice their lives for the security of their
country out of complete unity and solidarity.

What about the next day after the victory over Hamas?

First and foremost, it is important to create a better world for our
children and for the Palestinian children living in the Gaza Strip. They
deserve to live a dignified and free life, without the terror and fear of a
cruel and bloodthirsty dictatorship.

We are committed not only to liberating the citizens of Israel from fear and
terrorism, but to ensuring that the two million Palestinians in Gaza will
look to the future with great hope.

Secondly, together with the civilian and moderate forces in the Palestinian
arena, the people of Gaza, and with our partners in the international
community and among the countries of the region, we will look at how to
reconstruct and rebuild the Strip. In order to create a new reality in the
sector, a combination of regional and international forces will be needed.

Third, I would like to make clear that beyond the desire to ensure the
security of our citizens, which we will no longer give up, Israel has no
interest in controlling the civil affairs of the Gaza Strip, and this will
require a moderate Palestinian governing body that enjoys broad popular
support and legitimacy. It is not for us to determine Who will this worker
be?

Israel is aware of the desire of the international community and the
countries of the region to integrate the Palestinian Authority the day after
Hamas, and we make it clear that the matter will require a fundamental
reform of the Palestinian Authority, which will focus on recognizing its
duty to raise the young generation, in Gaza, Ramallah, Jenin and Jericho, in
the values of moderation and tolerance. , without incitement to violence
against Israel.

In its current form, the Authority finds it difficult to do this, and it
will require a great effort and assistance from the international community
as well as from the countries of the region, and we are ready for this
effort.

Finally, on the issue of Iran, Hezbollah, and the axis of evil led by them,
I will clarify that although Israel is focusing on the war to eliminate
Hamas, we advise Hezbollah and its Iranian master not to make mistakes. We
are also patient, and know how to wait for favorable circumstances; This is
my sincere promise, on behalf of the people and government of Israel.

* Elaph publishes this article by the head of the National Security Council
in Israel after he approached us, in accordance with freedom of opinion and
allowing room for all opinions that do not conflict with the basic values of
life and do not call for violence, and for the other and different opinions
to be heard and heard with all transparency and clarity.
________________________________________
IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il