The US announced phase two of the ceasefire mid-January. The reality is that most of the goals that were supposed to have been achieved in order to reach phase two have not been reached, namely a halt to violence, Israeli withdraw to the yellow line, and full resumption of aid. In fact, the only goal that has been achieved is the return of all the Israeli hostages.
Phase one has not delivered, definitely not for Palestinians. But what marked this transition into phase two was the announcement of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. It’s a fifteen-member body chaired by Dr Ali Shaath, an engineer who is originally from Gaza and has worked for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in various capacities.
In the grand scheme of things, this committee signals a shift toward depoliticized governance in Gaza amid the ongoing genocide. It is being presented as a neutral, technocratic governing structure, but the reality is that it’s going to function as a managerial mechanism that stabilizes conditions. This committee has been tasked with managing the reconstruction of service provision in Gaza, under the watchful eyes of Mladenov and Blair, who are going to report directly to Trump.
There are a lot of things that still remain unclear about the committee and how it’s going to be able to carry out this work. The issue of Israeli withdrawal to the yellow line is unclear, for example. For now, the committee is supposed to be operating in the western part of Gaza, the part that doesn’t really have the presence of Israeli forces. But at this stage, it still hasn’t been allowed into Gaza by the Israelis.
What is very clear is that this committee is not going to have any kind of political function. There was an interview where the chair was explicitly asked about Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hamas — he just referred all of these questions to the Board of Peace. It’s very important to understand the limitations of this committee. It’s not a new government or a new leadership in Gaza.
The US approach is to completely depoliticize the issue of Palestine and turn it into an economic or real estate issue. This committee creates this appearance of Palestinian involvement, but it will operate totally under the supervision of the Board of Peace. In practice, it’s positioned to play a very similar role to that of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, as a service provider operating under colonial oversight with political questions deferred indefinitely.
The big question is whether Israel will allow this technocratic committee to do the work that it’s mandated to do. We’re already seeing it being sabotaged at every possible stage. There was recently a big row because the committee shared its new logo, which incorporates the logo of the Palestinian Authority, and the Israelis lost their minds over it.
We’ll have to wait and see if this committee is allowed to operate in any way, shape, or form. Obviously Gaza is in urgent need of relief, recovery, and reconstruction, and the committee might be able to facilitate some of that. But speaking with Palestinians on the ground in Gaza specifically about the committee, I think there are a lot of mixed feelings about it. The reality is that its ability to deliver is completely dependent on the Israeli regime.
The other thing that marked phase two was Jared Kushner’s plan that he presented at Davos for Gaza. It was a dystopian presentation of high-rise buildings in a futuristic-looking enclave. As details of this plan have emerged, you start to realize what the Americans have in store for Palestinians, which is incredibly disturbing.
The idea is to force Palestinians into so-called planned communities that are going to be controlled and surveilled to an even greater extent than is already the case. Only approved Palestinians will be able to live in these areas. They’ll be subjected to security checks and will have to give over their biodata. They won’t have access to cash — it will be a cashless community — and the schools and curriculums will be tightly controlled.
Great Job Yara Hawari & the Team @ Jacobin Source link for sharing this story.
