The United States and Israel are considering the possibility of Washington leading an interim post-war administration for Gaza, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
The "high-level" consultations are focused on a transitional government headed by a US official, which would govern Gaza until it is demilitarized and stabilized, and a viable Palestinian administration is in place, the sources said.
According to preliminary discussions, there would be no fixed timeframe for the duration of such a US-led administration, but it would depend on the situation on the ground, five sources said.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, compared the proposal to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, which Washington established in 2003, shortly after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Many Iraqis saw the administration as an occupying force, and it transferred power to the interim Iraqi government in 2004 after failing to suppress a growing insurgency.
Other countries would be invited to participate in a US-led administration in Gaza, the sources said, without specifying which countries. The administration would include Palestinian technocrats but exclude the Islamist group Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, which has limited power in the occupied West Bank.
Sources said it was uncertain whether a deal would be reached. Talks have not yet reached the point of considering who might take on key roles, they said.
The sources did not specify which party proposed this idea, nor did they provide additional details about the talks.
When asked by Reuters, a State Department spokesman did not directly comment on whether there had been discussions with Israel about a US-led interim administration in Gaza, saying he could not speak about ongoing negotiations.
"We want peace and the immediate release of the hostages," the spokesman said, adding: "The pillars of our approach remain firm: support for Israel, commitment to peace."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment.
In an interview with Emirati television Sky News Arabia in April, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sarr said he believed there would be a “transition period” after the conflict in which an international board of trustees, including “moderate Arab countries,” would oversee Gaza, while the Palestinians would function under their leadership.
"We do not want to control the civilian life of the people of Gaza. Our only interest in the Gaza Strip is security," he said, without specifying which countries might be involved.
Ismail Al-Tawabta, director of the media office of the Hamas-run Gaza government, rejected the idea of a US-led administration or any foreign government, saying the Palestinian people in Gaza should choose their own rulers.
The Palestinian Authority did not respond to a request for comment.
Reuters writes that a US-led administration in Gaza would drag Washington deeper into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and would be its biggest intervention in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq.
Such a move would carry significant risk of backlash from both allies and adversaries in the region if Washington were perceived as an occupying force in Gaza, two sources said.
A US-led administration in Gaza would drag Washington deeper into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and would be its biggest intervention in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq.
The United Arab Emirates, which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, has proposed to the United States and Israel that an international coalition oversee post-war governance of Gaza. Abu Dhabi has conditioned its participation on the inclusion of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and a credible path to Palestinian statehood.
The UAE Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions about whether it would support a US-led administration that does not include the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli leadership, including Netanyahu, firmly rejects any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, accusing it of being anti-Israeli. Netanyahu also opposes Palestinian sovereignty.
Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would expand its attacks on Gaza and that more Gazans would be relocated “for their own safety.” Israel is still trying to return 59 hostages held in the enclave.
Some members of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have publicly called for the "voluntary" mass migration of Palestinians from Gaza and the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in the coastal strip.
However, as Reuters writes, some Israeli officials behind closed doors are also considering proposals for the future of Gaza, which sources say are based on the assumption that there will not be a mass exodus of Palestinians from Gaza, such as the US-led interim administration.
Among those proposals are limiting reconstruction to designated security zones, dividing up territory and establishing permanent military bases, said four sources, including foreign diplomats and former Israeli officials familiar with the proposals.
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