Jonathan Conricus: Israel Will Have to ‘Rule Gaza’ for a Period After Hamas is Destroyed

“I think in interim period Israel will apply a military occupation of it and rule Gaza to make sure that Hamas is indeed defeated, that there is no pockets of resistance and terrorism and guerrilla, etc.,” Conricus, the former International spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told The Daily Signal at the Jewish News Syndicate International Policy Summit in Jerusalem.

Once Hamas and its sympathizers are completely defeated in Gaza, “Israel will move out and then it will transition,” Conricus, who is also a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said. “It has to transition to local self-governance by Palestinians, not by Hamas, and not by corrupt Palestinian authority officials, but by local, vetted, non-terror-aligned Palestinians that have local standing in Gaza and that show that their trajectory, what they value, is the present and the future and that they want to build a different Gaza.”

This plan will require patience, according to the former IDF spokesman, adding, “I don't think that we have any other options.”

Conricus estimates it will take about five years to see positive change in Gaza, provided a “good plan” is in place with proper funding.

“To think that this is a quick fix that can be done quickly would be naïve and misleading. That is not the situation,” he said. “There is a very bad situation that has been going on for many years, and as such, it will take many years to undo.”