Israeli forces were fighting Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including parts of the devastated north that the army said it had cleared months ago, where Hamas has taken advantage of a security vacuum to regroup.
Israel has portrayed the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Hamas’s last stronghold, saying it must invade it to achieve its goals of dismantling the group and returning dozens of hostages. A limited operation there has expanded in recent days, forcing some 300,000 people to flee and prompting warnings from Egypt, where one official said it is jeopardizing the country’s decades-old peace treaty with Israel.
But the rest of the war-torn territory appears to offer Hamas ample opportunities. Israel has yet to offer a detailed plan for postwar governance in Gaza, saying only that it will maintain indefinite security control over the coastal enclave, which is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected proposed post-war plans by the United States for the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to govern Gaza with the support of Arab and Muslim countries. Those plans depend on progress toward creating a Palestinian state, something Netanyahu’s government deeply opposes.
With the two close allies divided, Gaza has been left without a functioning government, causing a breakdown in law and order and allowing Hamas to reconstitute itself even in the worst affected areas.
Israel signs wheat deal
In a bid to strengthen Israeli food security, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding with Romanian officials in Bucharest to provide wheat during emergencies. The agreement marks the fourth pact in Israel’s strategic initiative, “Treat Wheat,” to secure emergency wheat supplies.
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