Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reiterated that Israel will not allow Gaza’s reconstruction before militant groups in the enclave disarm.
He also said that Israel would maintain security control over the war-torn enclave, while speaking in a rare news conference to the Israeli media after the return of the final slain hostage, Ran Gvili. Mr Netanyahu also claimed credit for the return of all the hostages and outlined the country’s priorities as Gaza moves to phase two of the ceasefire.
“Now we are focusing on completing the two remaining missions: dismantling Hamas’s weapons and demilitarising Gaza of arms and tunnels,” he said.
Despite his comments, Hamas is showing no signs of giving up its light weapons, although there have been hints by officials from the militant group of a willingness to put heavy weaponry “in storage”.
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According to the Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli government has decided to allow the reconstruction of “New Rafah”, an area in southern Gaza under Israeli military control, after receiving a commitment from Hamas to disarm within 100 days.
The Israeli decision was reportedly made in response to an American request to separate the territory between “old Gaza,” which remains under full Hamas control, and the areas of new construction in the Gaza Strip under the responsibility of a newly established committee of Palestinian technocrats with US support, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Wednesday that the group is “ready for a complete transfer of control over the Gaza Strip as soon as possible”.
Gaza’s Hamas-run government has urged its more than 40,000 civil servants and 10,000 security personnel to co-operate with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. It said it was working to incorporate them into the new government, a move opposed by Israel.
As part of the ceasefire Israel is expected to allow the reopening of the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt, possibly as early as Thursday, although Israel says it will only allow 50 families to enter Gaza daily.
Thousands of Israelis carrying the national flag lined the route transporting the coffin of Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage, to the cemetery in his home community of Meitar in southern Israel for burial on Wednesday.
Mr Gvili’s mother, Talik, recalled that her son, a police officer, was among the first to go into battle on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, and the last to return.
Mr Gvili’s sister, Shira, said in her eulogy that “when mom came into my room two days after October 7th and said it would take time for him to return, I didn’t believe it would be 843 days – days in which pain and fear were an inseparable part of our daily lives.”
Mr Gvili’s body was found and identified in a Gaza cemetery on Monday after 250 bodies were examined following intelligence received last week.
A total of 168 hostages were released alive and 87 were returned dead. Most were freed through deals with Hamas. The rest – eight living hostages and 48 bodies – were recovered in Israeli military operations. At least 41 living hostages were killed after being taken captive, most by Hamas, while seven were killed by Israeli fire.
Israeli leaders have said that the return of the last hostage closes a circle and will finally allow the process of national healing to begin.
But some relatives of former hostages and the 1,200 killed in Israel on October 7th argue that full closure can only come after a state commission of inquiry is set up to examine who was responsible for the failures of that day – a move opposed by Mr Netanyahu.
