Israeli army sets up new position to control Gaza ‘for years to come’: Report

The position will be assumed by Israeli officer Elad Goren and will deal with 'day-to-day' civilian and security matters in Gaza

News Desk - The Cradle

The Israeli army is planning to establish a new position within its ranks aimed at overseeing long-term control over the Gaza Strip, Hebrew news site Ynet reported on 29 August. 

The decision comes “in the absence of clear strategic goals for the future of the Gaza Strip,” the Hebrew outlet wrote. 

“The Israeli army began yesterday through this appointment to accept the fact that its responsibility for the Strip will continue for years and will expand, and about two million Palestinians will remain under its responsibility,” the report added. 

Israeli officer Elad Goren has been chosen for this appointment, Ynet revealed. Goren is a veteran of the Defense Ministry unit, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

According to Ynet, he will take up the same role in Gaza as the head of COGAT’s West Bank branch, Israeli General Hisham Ibrahim. 

“This new position is not for show … It will have an important role for years to come … Anyone who believes that Israeli control and intervention in the Gaza Strip will end soon, whether by stopping or not stopping the fighting and its decline, or even with or without a deal, is mistaken,” a senior security official told the outlet. 

The report explains that Goren will deal with daily logistical issues such as humanitarian aid deliveries, repairing destroyed infrastructure, and contacting international aid organizations. He will also lead long-term civilian evacuation in order to “maintain international legitimacy” to continue fighting in Gaza “without witnessing a humanitarian crisis or famine.” 

“On the agenda of the new unit in the Israeli army will be major operations, which have already begun, to evacuate the seriously wounded and sick to hospitals in Jordan, Egypt or the UAE … and preparing for winter in the Gaza Strip, in light of the massive amount of destroyed infrastructure, as well as coordinating the campaign to vaccinate more than a million Gazans against polio,” Ynet said.

The unit will also “work with the international community to restore all civilian facilities that collapsed in the Strip.” 

“It will play a major role in wide-scale civilian operations that will be implemented soon if a deal is reached … the clear return of about one million Gaza residents to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip under the expected monitoring and inspection process on the Netzarim axis … It will also be tasked with dealing with the Rafah crossing crisis, especially in light of the possibility of the return of an international European body to supervise work there as it was before 2005.” 

Negotiations are failing to reach an agreement due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin's demand for an inspection mechanism for displaced Gazans returning to the north, along with his insistence on keeping troops along the Gaza–Egypt border – conditions which Hamas completely rejects.

According to satellite imagery reviewed by Ynet earlier this week, Israeli forces have expanded the Netzarim corridor in the Gaza Strip to include four large “outposts” designed to permanently house troops. 

Forensic Architecture, a research group based at Goldsmiths Univeristy, also revealed via satellite imagery on 20 August that the Israeli army is building a new land corridor east of Gaza City. 

Netanyahu confirmed last year that Israel is planning “indefinite” security control over Gaza.