Lapid proposes Egyptian administrative control of Gaza in exchange for debt relief

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid proposed on Tuesday that Egypt could assume administrative control of the neighbouring Palestinian Gaza Strip for 15 years in exchange for foreign debt relief. At the time of writing, Cairo had not commented officially on Lapid’s proposal, which comes after his country has waged a genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Lapid made his proposal in a speech at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD) research centre in Washington DC, according to Israel’s Maariv newspaper, and later posted it on social media.

“I recently presented a plan in Washington for the day after the war in Gaza,” he said. “At the centre of the plan: Egypt will assume responsibility for Gaza for (up to) 15 years, while at the same time its external debt of $155 billion will be cancelled by the international community.”

The Israeli politician pointed out that after nearly a year and a half of fighting, the world is surprised to discover that Hamas still controls Gaza. “No one in the current Israeli government has presented a realistic alternative. For political, and religious reasons, the Netanyahu government has failed to take steps to create an effective government in Gaza that would push Hamas out.”

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