By Shmuel Ornitz
Despite the lofty words spoken in the White House on September 29, the war and massacre in Gaza are not over yet and the hostages have not been released.
And that will not happen because behind the “20-point deal” presented by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, lies another plan: the plan to promote US hegemony in the region while denying the key to resolving the bloody conflict, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The plan that was presented is a lite version of the “Trump Vision” from about a year ago, and at its center lies US control of the Gaza Strip, which the president defined as a “piece of real estate.” For its final formulation and implementation, Trump recruited former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his son-in-law and business partner Jared Kushner.
According to the document, Blair’s plan for managing Gaza “the day after” outlines a multi-layered hierarchical structure. At the top of the pyramid will be senior figures from the business and diplomatic worlds, while field positions are intended for Palestinians. Details of Blair’s plan were not disclosed at the White House press conference, at the end of which journalists were not allowed to ask questions.
According to Blair’s plan, the transitional government in the Gaza Strip will have very broad powers, including “responsibility for security coordination” (what exactly is that?) and legislation that will govern the lives of Palestinian residents. The plan presents an outline for the government for three years, without specifying what is expected to happen after that.
Gaza Strip Board of Directors
The new administration, which will be under Trump’s personal management and under US control, will be headed by a board of directors, as is customary in business corporations.
The document mentioned possible names of directors in the transitional administration – Sigrid Kak, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, who is supposed to be the UN representative; Mark Rowan, a Jewish-American investor and CEO of the Apollo Investment House; and Egyptian billionaire Nagiv Sawiris. The leaked document states that Aria Lightstone, head of the Abraham Accords Institute in Washington which is deeply involved in the business of the infamous “Gaza Humanitarian Fund,” may also be on the board of directors.
The Blair document also states that the board, which will have between seven and ten members, should include “a prominent representation of Muslims to ensure regional legitimacy and trust.” The Muslim representatives should have “political support in their countries,” and “it is preferable that they also have a business reputation.” The board should also include at least one Palestinian representative, preferably a businessperson.
According to Blair’s plan, a “Gaza Investment and Economic Development Promotion Authority” would secure investments to sustain the institutions of the US mandate for Gaza and the reconstruction of the Strip. It would be “a commercial-driven authority, headed by professional business people, tasked with creating investable projects with real financial returns.” And of course, at least “three security agencies” with the participation of foreign mercenaries (according to the Gaza Humanitarian Fund).
Meanwhile, Gaza is being flattened.
The old “Trump vision” or the new “Netanyahu-Ben Gvir vision” continues to be realized in the Gaza Strip. As Yedioth Ahronoth reported at the end of September, “About two weeks after the start of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, IDF forces are currently driving stakes into the Gaza City area, establishing defenses from which they will launch raids and large logistics centres deep inside enemy territory, to which fuel and water lines will be connected, and possibly even a desalination plant for the benefit of the soldiers.
“Dozens of combat engineering bulldozers and trucks loaded with tons of explosives are flowing to the front lines every day. It appears that the IDF is on its way to a months-long campaign of systematically leveling hundreds of buildings in Gaza City.
“The Technology and Logistics Branch is currently completing the establishment of three logistics centres within the neighbourhoods of Gaza City and in the western part of the city, near the coast. This indicates that the IDF is preparing for another long maneuver in the city, the second in number since the beginning of the war. The main movements in the field are of engineering means on a much larger scale than the first maneuver in the city.
“In the first months of the war, dozens of tons of explosives of various types and anti-aircraft weapons such as bulldozers and D-9s, some of which were civilian ones that the IDF hired, entered Gaza. These are intended not only for locating and destroying large and important Hamas tunnels, but for leveling dozens if not hundreds of buildings to the ground.”
“Leveling Gaza” – this is precisely the crime that accompanies genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Zo Haderekh
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