Israel and US Are at Odds over Conflicting Visions for Postwar Gaza

An Israeli army self-propelled artillery howitzer fires rounds from a position near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on December 7, 2023 amid battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
An Israeli army self-propelled artillery howitzer fires rounds from a position near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on December 7, 2023 amid battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
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Israel and US Are at Odds over Conflicting Visions for Postwar Gaza

An Israeli army self-propelled artillery howitzer fires rounds from a position near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on December 7, 2023 amid battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
An Israeli army self-propelled artillery howitzer fires rounds from a position near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on December 7, 2023 amid battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

The United States has offered strong support to Israel in its war against the Hamas militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. But the allies are increasingly at odds over what will happen to Gaza once the war winds down.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, this week announced that Israel would retain an open-ended security presence in Gaza. Israeli officials talk of imposing a buffer zone to keep Palestinians away from the Israeli border. They rule out any role for the Palestinian Authority, which was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 but governs semi-autonomous areas of the occupied West Bank.

The United States has laid out a much different vision. Top officials have said they will not allow Israel to reoccupy Gaza or further shrink its already small territory. They have repeatedly called for a return of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority and the resumption of peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

These conflicting visions have set the stage for difficult discussions between Israel and the US.

Here’s a closer look at the issues.

SHAKY COMMON GROUND Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group burst across its southern border on Oct. 7, slaughtering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping more than 240 others. President Joe Biden quickly flew to Israel on a solidarity mission, and his administration has strongly backed Israel’s right to defend itself while providing weapons and military assistance.

Israel has said its goal is to destroy Hamas —- a difficult task given the group’s deep roots in Palestinian society.

The US, which along with other Western countries considers Hamas a terrorist group, has embraced this goal. But as the war drags on, it has expressed misgivings about the dire humanitarian conditions and mounting civilian death toll in Gaza, where health authorities report over 16,000 dead, at least two-thirds of them women and children. Israel says Hamas is to blame by using civilians as human shields.

Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said it is critical that Israel protect Gaza’s civilians.

“If you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat,” he said. “So I have repeatedly made clear to Israel’s leaders that protecting civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative.”

On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken went even farther, telling Israel that “civilian casualties remain too high and that Israel must step up its efforts to reduce them,” his office said. Blinken also called on Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

DIFFERENT VISIONS The biggest differences between the allies have emerged over the longer-term vision for Gaza.

Netanyahu has offered only glimpses of what he plans.

On Tuesday, he said the military would retain open-ended security control over the Gaza Strip long after the war ends, suggesting a form of extended Israeli occupation.

Netanyahu ruled out the idea of foreign peacekeepers, saying only the Israeli army could ensure that Gaza remains demilitarized. Netanyahu has also rejected a return of the Palestinian Authority, saying its leader, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cannot be trusted.

“After destroying Hamas, Gaza will be demilitarized and de-radicalized so that no threat will be posed to Israel from Gaza,” said Ophir Falk, an adviser to Netanyahu. “The buffer zone may be part of the demilitarization. That’s the plan.”

Biden and other top officials have repeatedly said that a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority must play a role in postwar Gaza and that Israel must seek a two-state solution involving the PA. They have ruled out a long-term re-occupation or redrawing of Gaza’s borders.

Vice President Kamala Harris laid out perhaps the clearest US vision during an address in Dubai last weekend.

“Five principles guide our approach for post-conflict Gaza: no forcible displacement, no re-occupation, no siege or blockade, no reduction in territory, and no use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism,” she said. “We want to see a unified Gaza and West Bank under the Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian voices and aspirations must be at the center of this work.”

Frustration with Netanyahu may not be limited to the US.

Amos Harel, the military affairs columnist for the Haaretz daily, said Israeli army commanders believe Netanyahu is motivated by domestic political considerations and refusing to deal with the Palestinian Authority “due to coalition constructions from his far-right partners.” Netanyahu and his hardline coalition partners oppose Palestinian independence.

HOW SERIOUS ARE THE DISPUTES? For now, both sides seem to be focused on the shared goal of destroying Hamas.

“It's important for them that Israel achieve the military goals because this is the starting point for any changes that can happen the day after,” said Eldad Shavit, a former high-ranking Israeli intelligence official.

He said US pressure in the short term will be on immediate issues — such as pressure to minimize civilian casualties and to allow more deliveries of humanitarian aid.

The US has indicated that it will show some patience after the fighting subsides.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US understands “there will have to be some kind of transition period after the end of major combat operations.” He declined to say how long that would take.

But as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, conditions deteriorate, and Biden enters an election year with significant portions of his Democratic base pushing for an end to Israel’s offensive, these differences are likely to grow in the absence of a clear endgame.

Shavit said that tensions could rise if the US at some point concludes that Israel is dragging its feet or ignoring American demands. But for now, “the Americans want Israel to succeed,” he said.

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator who is president of the US/Middle East Project, a policy institute that studies the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said the Americans are unlikely to put their foot down.

He cited what he described as a tepid American response to heavy civilian casualties in southern Gaza as an indicator of what lies ahead.

“Israelis have a sense that their road to run is not endless, but they still feel they have lots of road to run,” he said.



TIMELINE-The Buildup to Attacks on Israeli Football Supporters in Amsterdam

Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters demonstrate and light flares in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 7, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Michel Van Bergen/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters demonstrate and light flares in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 7, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Michel Van Bergen/via REUTERS/File Photo
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TIMELINE-The Buildup to Attacks on Israeli Football Supporters in Amsterdam

Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters demonstrate and light flares in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 7, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Michel Van Bergen/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters demonstrate and light flares in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 7, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Michel Van Bergen/via REUTERS/File Photo

Supporters of Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv were targeted for beatings by groups of thugs in the early hours of Friday following a match with Amsterdam's Ajax, the city's mayor Femke Halsema has said. Among dozens of Israeli supporters who were chased and assaulted, five suffered injuries needing hospital treatment, police said. In all 63 suspects have been arrested and authorities promised an investigation, as politicians within the country and beyond expressed their condemnation.

Here is a closer look at how the situation escalated.

Tension began to build on Wednesday as some of the 3,000 visiting Maccabi supporters had minor altercations back and forth with locals including taxi drivers and Ajax supporters in the city centre, police said.

A police report said groups of Maccabi supporters burned a Palestinian flag on Dam square, pulled another down from a nearby building and vandalized a taxi.

After a call went out on social media, angry Muslim taxi drivers gathered outside a casino where a group of 400 Maccabi supporters were gathered, and police intervened amid skirmishes.

Dutch media have reported on videos showing the beating of a Muslim taxi driver and a group of youths yelling anti-Semitic slurs at a person in a canal said to be a Maccabi supporter who was pushed in.

Reuters was unable to confirm those incidents took place as portrayed.

On the day of the match, Maccabi supporters were filmed chanting anti-Arab slogans in front of the National Monument on Amsterdam's central Dam square, including swear words against Palestine, in videos verified by Reuters.

Police guarded the perimeter but fights around the fringes were reported.

Dutch pro-Palestinian groups planned a demonstration outside the stadium during the game, arguing that the match should have been cancelled because of alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Israel denies war crimes, saying it is defending itself and blaming Hamas for civilian deaths, which the militants reject.

Dutch authorities were aware of anger over the war in Gaza, but saw no reason to cancel the match. The relationship between supporters -- the usual source of football violence -- is generally good between the two teams, Halsema said on Friday.

Ajax has strong Jewish associations, and fans sometimes carry Star of David flags to matches; it also has many Muslim supporters.

Less than 1% of Amsterdam's population is Jewish following the Holocaust, while around 15% is Muslim, mostly second and first generation immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East. The conservative Dutch government has vowed to implement Europe's strictest measures to limit immigration and reject asylum-seekers.

Ajax's most hardcore group of supporters, known as the F-Side, had said politics and football should be kept separate and that they would "intervene if necessary" if it went ahead at the ground.

Riot police at the stadium kept opposing groups apart and few incidents were reported when the match ended around 11 p.m.

However in the city center, around midnight, security fell apart.

Calls to target returning Maccabi supporters began circulating on Dutch messaging groups, leading to what mayor Halsema described as "anti-Semitic hit and run assaults".

Police used to dispersing football mobs could not easily stop smaller, highly mobile groups of attackers with no obvious club allegiance.

Police said they collected around 200 Maccabi fans on Dam square to protect them and escort them back to their hotels, but many were assaulted elsewhere in town, with perpetrators quickly fleeing on motor scooters.

Films on social media and verified by Reuters showed groups attacking Israelis.

Of the 63 people detained, most were later released pending charges.

Amsterdam banned demonstrations through the weekend and gave police emergency stop-and-search powers.