Palestinians Should Govern Gaza After War: Blinken

Palestinians should govern Gaza once Israel ends its war against Hamas, the United States said on Wednesday, pushing back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's idea that Israel would be responsible for security indefinitely.

Hamas gunmen from Gaza burst through the border to Israel on October 7 and killed 1,400 people, Israel says. Now a month later, Washington has begun discussing with Israeli and Arab leaders a future for the Gaza Strip without Hamas rule.

While a plan has yet to emerge, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (November 8) outlined in the most comprehensive comments on the issue to date Washington's red lines and expectations for the besieged coastal territory.

"No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends. No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza," Blinken said at a press conference in Tokyo.

Blinken said there may be a need for "some transition period" at the end of the conflict, but that post-crisis governance in Gaza must include Palestinian voices.

"It must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority."

On Monday, Netanyahu told ABC News that Israel will "for an indefinite period" have security responsibility of the enclave after the war. His comments appeared at odds with US officials who say Israel does not want to administer Gaza post-Hamas.

"I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we've seen what happens when we don't have that security responsibility," Netanyahu said.

Israeli officials have since tried to clarify they do not intend to occupy Gaza after the war, but they have yet to articulate how they might ensure security without maintaining a military presence. Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says Gaza, where Hamas has ruled since 2007, is an integral part of what it envisions for a future Palestinian state.