As Israel conducts military ground operations in Gaza to save the hostages and root out Hamas terrorists, it is necessary to look ahead and plan for the day after the war ends. There needs to be a plan. It's easy to start a war but supremely difficult to end one. Instead of isolating Gaza, the international community can and should press for a new reality that sees Gaza's Palestinian civilians living in freedom and security with open access to the outside world through Egypt.
Gaza has mostly been a prison for its 2.2 million mostly impoverished residents since Israel's unilateral disengagement in 2005, and especially after Hamas' election two years later. Israel allows thousands of Gazans to cross the border for work, but it is not enough to break out of the endemic hardship as for years, Hamas prevented many people from leaving. The Egyptian border today is not a point of exit for most Gazans. Two years ago, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared Gaza as "hell on earth" for the Palestinian children there. That was before the current war on Gaza after Hamas murdered over 1,400 Israeli men, women, and children, and kidnapped over 200.
US President Joe Biden has acknowledged the day after in Gaza, while also advising Israel in its military operations. He has emphasized that there is no returning to the status quo, and that the war must end with a vision for a "two-state solution." He has also spoken of "a better future for the Middle East," after the war, one where the region "is more stable, better connected to its neighbors."
The United States' leadership in pursuit of this vision will be crucial post-war. There will be numerous pieces to recover and reassemble, and the urgency will be even greater. The Saudi-Israeli normalization talks, which included "significant proposals for the Palestinians," could serve as a practical starting point.
To achieve economic integration in the Palestinian territories after the conflict, a fresh approach to governance and security will be necessary. It's important to note that Hamas is not considered a viable option for Washington, Israel, and likely most pro-U.S. regional capitals.
Salam Fayyad, writing in Foreign Affairs, outlined some of the possibilities and challenges of an expanded role for a reformed Palestinian Authority in post-war governance. Israel and the PA must commit to nonviolence, he writes.
Israel should commit to all existing agreements with the Palestinians, meaning no more illegal settlements or outposts, as was agreed among by representatives of Jordan, Egypt, Israel, the US and the Palestinian Authority in Aqaba in February.
There is also debate in Israel about what the defeat of Hamas might actually mean, and require, following joint ongoing consultations with US military advisers.
Investing in Gaza and rebuilding this destroyed strip of land will become the most important focus in the region after the war. This effort may require something of the scale of the Madrid conference of 1991, following the US defeat of Iraq in Operation Desert Storm, which restored Kuwaiti sovereignty. US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker led the historic diplomacy in Madrid, which was attended by Israeli, Jordanian, Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian leaders and delegations. Madrid led to the Israel-Palestinian Oslo Accords in 1993, and the Israel-Jordan peace treaty the following year.
While those agreements were vastly different than anything we will see in Gaza, it will be possible to arrive at a practical solution that will benefit Palestinian civilians there as well as provide a newfound security for Israelis living in Israel's south without the threat of Hamas rockets and infiltrations.
Part of the Gaza plan should include a seaport and airport, providing the Palestinians there an avenue to the outside world and the ability to freely import and export goods.
The international community should put its money where its mouth is. After years of resolutions and actions in favor of the Palestinians, it is time for nations to pledge and follow through with billions of dollars in aid. Without this influx of international aid, Gaza will remain a hulking heap of twisted steel and concrete. Now is the time to rethink the Gaza Strip and provide the Palestinians there a real opportunity to live their lives in peace and security.
