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Total Palestinian Rejection of Gaza Tribal Rule Plans

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)
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Total Palestinian Rejection of Gaza Tribal Rule Plans

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)

bIsraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant presented for the first time a post-war plan, according to which Hamas would not have governed the Gaza Strip.

Under the plan, Hamas would no longer control Gaza and Israel would maintain military operational freedom, but there would be no Israeli civilian presence there.

Talk about the “day after” the war has been a significant point of discussion, and questions about the form of the Strip’s management, especially its security aspect, remain without clear answers.

- Gallant plan

Gallant revealed to reporters the outlines of the plan before presenting it to the Military Ministerial Council headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The plan states that residents of northern Gaza will not be permitted to return to their homes until all hostages held in Gaza are returned and notes that there are no plans for a reoccupation or resettlement of Gaza after the goals of the war have been achieved.

Israel will carry out a “joint operation with Egypt” in cooperation with the US to “effectively control the border” and prevent the smuggling of weapons from Sinai into the Palestinian Strip.

The plan also stipulates that Hamas will not rule Gaza, and Israel will not govern Gaza civilians, noting that Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against Israel.

It focuses on the civil governance of the Strip, with Israel retaining military control on the borders and the right to take any military and security action necessary inside Gaza.

- Tribal rule

Tribal leaders in Gaza rejected Israeli post-war plans, excluding Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Commissioner-General of the Supreme Authority of Palestinian Tribes in Gaza, Akef al-Masry, issued a warning against the plan.

Masry said the “occupying state” seeks to cover up its failures in Gaza and create strife in the Palestinian society.

He asserted that the Palestinian tribes are an integral part of the society, rejecting the Israeli conspiracies to eliminate national rights.

The official lauded the legendary steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their resistance, calling on all to make a united national decision that rises to the level of sacrifice.

Masry called on all Palestinian, Arab, and international parties to take urgent action to stop the genocide, ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and medical and relief supplies, and guarantee shelter for citizens until reconstruction is completed.

In a statement on Friday, the Palestinian Presidency firmly reiterated its clear stance, emphasizing that halting the Israeli aggression against the people is the top national priority for the time being.

The Presidency rejected any plans beyond these parameters, deeming them categorically unacceptable.

The statement emphasized the importance of a political horizon based on international legitimacy, the Arab Peace Initiative, ending the occupation, and the recognition of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

Gallant’s plan is inspired by the “Emirates Project” for the future of the Gaza Strip.

The “Emirates Project” was initiated about ten years ago by right-wing professor Mordechai Kedar, a Begin-Sadat Institute for Studies member.

Kedar claimed the Palestinian Emirates Plan’ was the only viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He indicated that the West Bank would be linked to the tribes and families, in addition to the emirate that arose ten years ago in Gaza and is ruled by Hamas.

At the time, Kedar stressed that his project was based on the successful model of the United Arab Emirates.

However, the Kedar project discussed the Gaza Strip as a single emirate in addition to the emirates of the West Bank.

Gallant called for a multinational task force, led by the US in partnership with European and moderate Arab nations, to take responsibility for running civil affairs and the economic rehabilitation of the Strip.

Palestinian administrative mechanisms will be maintained, provided the relevant officials are not affiliated with Hamas.

- Israeli rejects the plan

The plan was met with strong opposition from the Israeli right, which insists on deporting the people of Gaza.

Minister Benny Gantz wondered if a single Palestinian would accept the plan.

Journalist Nahum Barnea wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth that tribal leaders will manage Gaza according to the proposal of officials in the security apparatus.

He recalled that the proposal was tried once, in 1977, and ended in resounding failure. At the time, they called it village associations.

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Arab World

After a Decade in Türkiye, a Syrian Refugee Rushes to Return Home, but Reality Hits

Syria refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family are welcomed by relatives as they return to their home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Syria refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family are welcomed by relatives as they return to their home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
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After a Decade in Türkiye, a Syrian Refugee Rushes to Return Home, but Reality Hits

Syria refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family are welcomed by relatives as they return to their home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Syria refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family are welcomed by relatives as they return to their home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

The moment he arrived home to Syria from Türkiye, Ahmed al-Kassem held his sister in a tight embrace, tears streaming down their faces. They hadn't seen each other in more than a decade and now were reunited only days after the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
But soon, the former refugee’s joy was tinged by uncertainty about the future of his war-torn homeland. His old house in the city of Aleppo was too damaged to live in, and the family home he had brought his wife and children to had no electricity or running water.
“If I had known, I don’t know if I would have come,” the 38-year-old al-Kassem said. “Our life in Türkiye was not perfect, but what we are seeing here is a disaster.”
Al-Kassem and his family are among the more than 7,600 Syrian refugees who Turkish officials say have crossed back into Syria from Türkiye since Dec. 9 when Assad was swept out of power by the opposition factions. Thousands more have come back from neighboring Lebanon. The Associated Press documented the return of al-Kassem's family, from their crossing out of Türkiye with a truckload of belongings on Dec. 13 to their first days in Aleppo, a city still scarred by the long civil war.
They leave behind a life they built in Türkiye over the past 11 years. Four of his five children were born in Türkiye and know Syria and their relatives here only through video chats. For al-Kassem and his wife, it’s a chance to rejoin their family, resume their lives, and introduce their kids -- three girls and two boys aged 7 to 14 -- to their Syrian heritage.
But it’s a dive into the unknown of a new Syria still being formed. There’s little chance Türkiye will let them back.
At Türkiye’s Oncupinar border crossing, they waited in line for hours and then had to hand over to Turkish officials the “temporary protection” documents that certified their refugee status and right to be in the country.
On the Syrian side of the border, known as Bab al-Salameh, they unloaded their belongings – including a carpet and a washing machine – from the Turkish truck and placed them into another truck and van.
For an hour, they rode across northwest Syria until they reached Aleppo’s Masaken Hanano district. By now it was after nightfall, and the neighborhood was shrouded in darkness, with no electricity. They passed buildings destroyed or damaged years ago in fighting.
Using the light on his mobile phone, al-Kassem led his family down a dark alleyway and found his sister’s one-story house. It was intact but dark. There in front of the house, he had his tearful reunion with his sister. The kids hugged their cousins for the first time.
But the initial reality was hard.
When AP journalists met al-Kassem again three days later, he had sent his children to another relative’s house because his sister’s home had no electricity or running water. The relative’s house at least had a few hours of each every day, he said.
Al-Kassem wondered if he made the right decision bringing his family back so soon.
“When I saw my country liberated, I got up and returned with my children, to introduce them to our homeland and show them their country,” al-Kassem said. “But when my children came here and saw the situation, they were really surprised. They didn’t expect this.”
In Türkiye, they had water, electricity, the internet –“all life’s essentials were available,” he said. “But here, as you can see, we have been here for days with no water. I have no idea where I will go with my children.”
His 14-year-old daughter, Rawiya, said she was pleased to be reunited with her relatives. But she was worried about starting school in Aleppo after years in Turkish schools. She speaks Arabic but can’t read or write it.
“It will be difficult for me to start learning Arabic from zero,” said Rawiya. “Despite this, I’m happy to be in Syria.”
Rawiya was 4 when her family fled Aleppo in 2013. At the time, the opposition held the eastern districts of the city and fighting was ferocious with Assad’s forces holding the western half. A mosque behind al-Kassem’s house was repeatedly hit by shelling – and the day the shelling hit his house, he decided it was time to go.
They settled in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, where al-Kassem worked in construction, as he had in Aleppo. There, his other children were born and raised, becoming fluent in Turkish while speaking little Arabic.
Once a vital economic hub and Syria’s largest city, Aleppo was ravaged by years of fighting, until government forces with help from Russia and Iran finally recaptured the entire city in 2016. Much of the eastern section remains in ruins, many of the buildings still concrete skeletons with a few partially rebuilt by residents.
In Aleppo’s Old City, a Syrian revolutionary flag now hangs from the historic castle, where crowds continue to celebrate Assad’s downfall. Dozens of people strolled outside the ancient structure, some carrying or wearing the flag. The streets were filled with residents and visitors.
“We are here today to share the joy with everyone,” said Huzam Jbara, a mother from nearby Idlib province visiting Aleppo Castle with her two daughters for the first time in 10 years. “We are very happy, and we got rid of the tyrant who oppressed his people, killed his people, and locked them in prisons.”
In Aleppo’s Kostaki Homsi Street, lines stretched outside bakeries as people waited for bread — a sign of the widespread poverty in Syria’s wrecked economy.
In his first days back in Aleppo, al-Kassem found his old home in Masaken Hanano. The windows were shattered, all the belongings they left behind were gone.
He reflected on his life in Türkiye. They faced hardships there, including the COVID pandemic and a devastating 2023 earthquake. Now they will face hardships returning here, he said.
“But I have to adapt to the situation,” al-Kassem said. ” Why? Because it still is my homeland, my home, and our people are here.”