“Demilitarize and de-radicalize”: Netanyahu unveils his Gaza plan

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Tens of thousands of deaths, unbearable suffering and bitter fighting. The Palestinian territories and Israel have been at war since October 7. Many people wonder: what will happen after the current ceasefire? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (74) revealed clear plans for what the Gaza Strip should look like in the future in an interview with ‘Bild’.

“After the ceasefire, we will continue to fight. We must destroy Hamas, otherwise they will continue to kill and slaughter,” Netanyahu said. He emphasizes: Israel has no choice but to destroy Hamas, because Hamas’s actions are “the worst ever committed against the Jewish people.” If Israel fails to eradicate, European countries would be next: “If the Middle East falls apart, you will be next.”

The Prime Minister compares his fight against Hamas with the denazification of Germany in 1945: “After exterminating Hamas, we demilitarize Gaza and secondly, we deradicalize Gaza. That is exactly what has been done in Germany, Japan and elsewhere,” he says. When asked about the tens of thousands of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu replied: “There were also civilian casualties then. However, no one questioned the extermination of the Nazis.”

“These are the new Nazis”

Netanyahu describes the criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron (46) and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (51) of Israel’s extensive attacks in the Gaza Strip as “unacceptable”.

The Israeli army found several dead families after the October 7 attack, Netanyahu revealed. Some of their bodies were tightly wrapped or burned. “We are dealing with such people here – they are the new Nazis.”

Free schools from radical views

That is why Netanyahu wants to ban radical ideologies from mosques and schools in Gaza. Education and culture must be freed from radical views. “That’s how it was done in Germany. And now Germany is a new country.” Israel wants to transform the Gaza Strip in the long term. “I can assure you that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel as it did in the past.”

After ‘de-radicalization’, Netanyahu wants to rebuild the occupied territories. However, he did not comment on a new government. So it remains unclear whether Netanyahu sees the Palestinian authorities at the helm of the Gaza Strip in the future or not.

There is unity in our own country

There are Western politicians who accuse Netanyahu of empowering Hamas. His government allowed Qatar to send money to Gaza. “We wanted to prevent the collapse of civilian structures and enable humanitarian assistance,” he explains.

“We hit Hamas hard through our military campaigns. But it’s true, we didn’t destroy them. That’s what we’re dealing with now and the reason we couldn’t do that was because such an action requires a lot of internal unity.”

But this only seems to exist within Israel. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said of Netanyahu’s future plan: “How can anyone talk about the future of the Gaza Strip if we don’t know what will be left of the Gaza Strip when this aggression ends?” (An)

Source: Blick