Biden Administration Officials, are in Preliminary Conversations about Options for Stabilizing Post-War Gaza, including a Proposal for the Pentagon to help Fund either a Multinational Force or a Palestinian Peacekeeping Team.
The Options being considered would Not involve U.S.Troops on the Ground, according to Defense Department Officials (DOD) and other U.S. Officials.
DOD Funding would go toward the needs of the Security Force and complement Assistance from Other Countries. Aid could be used for: Reconstruction, Infrastructure, Humanitarian Assistance, and other needs.
Gaza is in Rubble, and the vast Majority of its 2.2 million People are Displaced with Strained Access to Food, Water, and Medicine.
It could be Weeks or Months before Washington and its Partners Approve any Plan, especially since Regional Players want to see a Commitment to a Two-State Solution before seriously engaging with the Options.
There are also questions about the Viability of Training a potential Palestinian-led Force, in time to maintain Order in Gaza, which has been Decimated after Five months of Brutal Fighting.
And Israel is reluctant to have these Conversations until it Defeats Hamas Militarily, and Secures the Release of Hostages being held by the Group.
Some Officials within the Israeli Government, have called for Israel to occupy Gaza after the War, a Proposal the U.S. Opposes.
“Israel is the long pole in the tent,” said One of the DOD Officials, noting that Israel “has their hands full with other things.”
“It would be one thing if the administration and the Israeli government were aligned on the way ahead, but that is just not the case,” said the Official.
The Talks include: the White House, Pentagon, State Department, and their Foreign Counterparts, about what a potential Day-After Security Force would look like, Four Officials Confirmed.
The Discussions indicate such Forces remain Serious and Viable Options for what follows Israel’s Retaliation against Hamas.
The Pentagon would likely need to shift Funds from elsewhere in the Department to Pay for the Plan.
As for a potential Palestinian-led Peacekeeping Team, it’s still unclear Who would Train and Equip its Members, which could include some of the nearly 20,000 Security Personnel backed by the Palestinian Authority, since Hamas took Control of in the Mid-2000s.
DOD began looking at Options for Supporting some kind of Multinational Force to Stabilize Gaza around the New year, when there were expectations that Israel could soon start wrapping up its Operations, according to the DOD Official.
Then in January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel to work with Regional Countries and moderate Palestinians to Rebuild, Stabilize, and Govern Gaza, once the War ended. “This can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a Palestinian state,” He said during a Visit to Israel.
Although U.S. Officials have had Conversations with Regional Partners about what the Makeup of such a Force would look like, None has Confirmed Participation because the Plan is Not Finalized, the DOD Official said. Many Countries in the Middle East, told the Biden Administration they would consider Participation Only when there was a serious Two-State Solution Plan in place.
“Even though we have had conversations on the margins with regional partners about what they’d be willing to do, contribute, accept, that has not received serious consideration from our Israeli partner,” the Official said.
Israel “is not looking to signal an end because they have not achieved the aims they are pursuing” yet in Gaza, the Official added.
In the meantime, DOD is focused on Increasing the flow of Humanitarian Aid into Gaza, including Ensuring the Security of the U.S. Military’s Plan to Build a Pier to Deliver resources by Sea to the Enclave, and urging Israel to consider “Alternatives” to a Full-Scale Rafah Invasion, the DOD Official said.
The “what comes after” talks also include the possibility of a Two-State Solution, the Official added.
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