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Arab World

Israeli Lobby Seeks to Restore Jewish Settlement in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)
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Israeli Lobby Seeks to Restore Jewish Settlement in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)

A so-called “Parliamentary Lobby for the Israeli Victory Project,” which operates in Israel and the United States, decided to submit a demand to the US administration and the Israeli government to “seriously consider a project of voluntary transfer of Palestinians,” claiming that it was the best humanitarian solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

The lobby warned of the American plan to allow the Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza and to establish the two-state solution, claiming that this is “a recipe for repeating the Hamas attack on October 7, several times.”

These positions were announced on the eve of the meeting of the Israeli Mini Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs, on Thursday, to discuss the post-Gaza war stage. The lobby announced its adoption of the plan drawn up by Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, the author of the official project to deport the people of Gaza.

According to Gamliel, Hamas’ rule of the Gaza Strip should end, along with the complete destruction of its sites and tunnels and the dissolution of municipalities and village councils. She added that the entire agricultural land must become a security belt for Israel, while the Israeli army must remain in control of all border crossings and be able to continue its operations.

Transferring UNRWA materials

Gamliel stressed that transferring governing powers to the Palestinian Authority would be very dangerous for Israel.

She noted that the PA leaders share views as Hamas, saying: “They even expressed their support for the October 7 massacre. We did not fight for all this period and pay the price in blood for the establishment of an authority that is hostile to us.”

The minister emphasized that her project required interim civilian rule in the Gaza Strip, led by the United States, Egypt and Jordan, with the Israeli army maintaining its security control.

She added that among urgent tasks will be a process of complete disarmament and the termination of the Palestinian refugee file, while transferring the resources that go to UNRWA to finance the voluntary migration project so that the refugees can build a new life abroad.

The Israeli Victory Project was founded in 2017 and includes a group of deputies from both the coalition and the opposition.

‘Unrealistic illusions’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a briefing to Israeli media, described calls for the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza launched by Israeli ministers, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as “unrealistic illusions.”

Netanyahu claimed that Israel “does not work to displace the people of Gaza and resettle them in other places in the world.”

“Even if we wanted to, Israel does not have the ability to push the residents of Gaza to leave to another country,” he said, citing legal restrictions.

American figures

Since the creation of the lobby, there have been two American figures in its leadership: Daniel Pipes, president of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, and Gregg Roman, Director General of the same institute, who is a former leader of Jewish institutions and worked as an employee in the Israeli Ministry of Defense and an advisor to the Israeli Foreign Minister.

The lobby believes that the Israeli government and the American administration failed to settle the conflict during 30 years of negotiations, because they “did not deal appropriately with the Palestinian policy” of rejecting proposals, while claiming that the Israelis had to constantly make concessions to the Palestinians.

Similar American lobby

The Israeli Victory Project works in partnership with a similar US lobby that has been established in Congress since 1988. It is led by figures in the American leadership, and funded by American support.

The intense campaign by the Israeli right to promote the voluntary deportation of Palestinians is “unsettling” the American administration and many forces in Israel, who believe it will politically and legally implicate Israel at international arenas.

A political source in the opposition said the call for deportation is no longer limited to a number of far-right ministers and representatives, but is now backed by political, popular and academic forces in Israel and the United States.

These forces are trying to give momentum to this project and refuse in any way to end the war with a political settlement, according to the source.

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Arab World

How Gaza Armed Gangs Recruit New Members

Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
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How Gaza Armed Gangs Recruit New Members

Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)
Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (Reuters)

As Hamas moves to strike armed gangs operating in areas of the Gaza Strip under Israeli army control, the groups are responding with defiance, stepping up efforts to recruit young men and expand their ranks.

Videos posted on social media show training exercises and other activities, signaling that the gangs remain active despite pressure from Hamas security services.

Platforms affiliated with Hamas security say some members have recently turned themselves in following mediation by families, clans and community leaders. The gangs have not responded to those statements. Instead, they occasionally broadcast footage announcing new recruits.

Among the most prominent was Hamza Mahra, a Hamas activist who appeared weeks ago in a video released by the Shawqi Abu Nasira gang, which operates north of Khan Younis and east of Deir al-Balah.

Mahra’s appearance has raised questions about how these groups recruit members inside the enclave.

Field sources and others within the security apparatus of a Palestinian armed faction in Gaza told Asharq Al-Awsat that Mahra’s case may be an exception. They described him as a Hamas activist with no major role, despite his grandfather being among the founders of Hamas in Jabalia.

His decision to join the gang was driven by personal reasons linked to a family dispute, they said, not by organizational considerations.

The sources said the gangs exploit severe economic hardship, luring some young men with money, cigarettes and other incentives. Some recruits were heavily indebted and fled to gang-controlled areas to avoid repaying creditors.

Others joined in search of narcotic pills, the sources said, noting that some had previously been detained by Hamas-run security forces on similar charges. Economic hardship and the need for cigarettes and drugs were among the main drivers of recruitment, they added, saying the gangs, with Israeli backing, provide such supplies.

Resentment toward Hamas has also played a role, particularly among those previously arrested on criminal or security grounds and subjected to what the sources described as limited torture during interrogations under established procedures.

According to the sources, some founders or current leaders of the gangs previously served in the Palestinian Authority security services.

They cited Shawqi Abu Nasira, a senior police officer; Hussam al-Astal, an officer in the Preventive Security Service; and Rami Helles and Ashraf al-Mansi, both former officers in the Palestinian Presidential Guard.

These figures, the sources said, approach young men in need and at times succeed in recruiting them by promising help in settling debts and providing cigarettes. They also tell recruits that joining will secure them a future role in security forces that would later govern Gaza.

The sources described the case of a young man who surrendered to Gaza security services last week. He said he had been pressured after a phone call with a woman who threatened to publish the recording unless he joined one of the gangs.

He later received assurances from another contact that he would help repay some of his debts and ultimately agreed to enlist.

During questioning, he said the leader of the gang he joined east of Gaza City repeatedly assured recruits they would be “part of the structure of any Palestinian security force that will rule the sector.”

The young man told investigators he was unconvinced by those assurances, as were dozens of others in the same group.

Investigations of several individuals who surrendered, along with field data, indicate the gangs have carried out armed missions on behalf of the Israeli army, including locating tunnels. That has led to ambushes by Palestinian factions.

In the past week, clashes in the Zaytoun neighborhood south of Gaza City and near al-Masdar east of Deir al-Balah left gang members dead and wounded.

Some investigations also found that the gangs recruited young men previously involved in looting humanitarian aid.

Arab World

Israel Permits 10,000 West Bank Palestinians for Friday Prayers at Al Aqsa

Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer
Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer
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Israel Permits 10,000 West Bank Palestinians for Friday Prayers at Al Aqsa

Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer
Palestinians attend Friday prayers in a mosque following an attack that local Palestinians said was carried out by Israeli settlers, in the village of Deir Istiya near Salfit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Sinan Abu Mayzer

Israel announced that it will cap the number of Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank attending weekly Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem at 10,000 during the holy month of Ramadan, which began Wednesday.

Israeli authorities also imposed age restrictions on West Bank Palestinians, permitting entry only to men aged 55 and older, women aged 50 and older, and children up to age 12.

"Ten thousand Palestinian worshippers will be permitted to enter the Temple Mount for Friday prayers throughout the month of Ramadan, subject to obtaining a dedicated daily permit in advance," COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry agency in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement, AFP reported.

"Entry for men will be permitted from age 55, for women from age 50, and for children up to age 12 when accompanied by a first-degree relative."

COGAT told AFP that the restrictions apply only to Palestinians travelling from the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

"It is emphasised that all permits are conditional upon prior security approval by the relevant security authorities," COGAT said.

"In addition, residents travelling to prayers at the Temple Mount will be required to undergo digital documentation at the crossings upon their return to the areas of Judea and Samaria at the conclusion of the prayer day," it said, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

During Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed in a move that is not internationally recognized.

Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, the attendance of worshippers has declined due to security concerns and Israeli restrictions.

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said this week that Israeli authorities had prevented the Islamic Waqf -- the Jordanian-run body that administers the site -- from carrying out routine preparations ahead of Ramadan, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.

A senior imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad al-Abbasi, told AFP that he, too, had been barred from entering the compound.

"I have been barred from the mosque for a week, and the order can be renewed," he said.

Abbasi said he was not informed of the reason for the ban, which came into effect on Monday.

Under longstanding arrangements, Jews may visit the Al-Aqsa compound -- which they revere as the site of the first and second Jewish temples -- but they are not permitted to pray there.

Israel says it is committed to upholding this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.

In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.

Arab World

EU Exploring Support for New Gaza Administration Committee, Document Says

Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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EU Exploring Support for New Gaza Administration Committee, Document Says

Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

The European Union is exploring possible support for a new committee established to take over the civil administration of Gaza, according to a document produced by the bloc's diplomatic arm and seen by Reuters.

"The EU is engaging with the newly established transitional governance structures for Gaza," the European External Action Service wrote in a document circulated to member states on Tuesday.

"The EU is also exploring possible support to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza," it added.

European foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Gaza during a meeting in Brussels on February 23.