Israeli justice minister calls for four-part initiative to deal with Gaza

Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni has proposed a four-part initiative to deal with the Gaza Strip after the end of Israel’s military campaign, which includes the disarmament of the Strip as well as the recognition of Israel and international conventions.

According to Anadolu news agency, Livni wrote on her Facebook page that the initiative must include the following: firstly, agreeing with the world on principles against Hamas (without specifying those principles); secondly, an international agreement on disarming the Gaza Strip; thirdly, controlling the entry of goods and funds into Gaza; and fourthly, stressing that the government in Gaza should be a “legitimate” government that renounces violence and recognises Israel and international conventions.

Livni added that “the principle of one government, one law and one army” must be emphasised in the Palestinian territories. “Any agreement, any reconstruction and all financial support must be through this mechanism,” she said.

Israel launched a brutal war on the Gaza Strip that began on 7 July and lasted for 51 days, resulting in the deaths of 2,152 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and the injury of more than 11,000, according to Palestinian medical sources.

The war also fully destroyed 9,000 houses and partially destroyed another 8,000, according to preliminary statistics released by the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

On the other side, 67 Israeli soldiers were killed, as well as four Israeli civilians and one foreign worker, according to official Israeli data. Two nongovernmental Israeli medical centres, Soroka and Barzillai, reported that another 2,522 Israelis, including 740 soldiers, received medical treatment for injuries sustained during the war.

On 26 August, the Palestinian factions and Israel reached a long-term truce agreement, under Egyptian auspices, entailing a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire, the opening of Israel’s commercial crossings with the Gaza Strip, and discussing the rest of the Palestinian demands a month after the initial agreement.