Scoop: Blinken to present post-war plan for Gaza on Tuesday
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Secretary of State Tony Blinken will lay out a plan for rebuilding and governing Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war on Tuesday, three U.S. officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: Blinken is down to his last week in Foggy Bottom, but he hopes his blueprint will become a reference point for any future day-after plan for Gaza, including for the incoming Trump administration.
Driving the news: Blinken will lay out his plan in a speech at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday morning amid efforts to conclude a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
- President-elect Donald Trump told Newsmax on Monday night that Israel and Hamas are "very close" to a deal. "I understand that there has been a handshake and they are getting it finished — maybe by the end of the week," he said. Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff is participating in the negotiations in Doha.
- A plan for the post-Hamas governance structure in Gaza would be crucial for efforts to implement the second phase of the Gaza deal, which is designed to lead to a permanent ceasefire and the end of the war.
State of play: Blinken has presented his plan for Gaza's security, administration and reconstruction after a ceasefire agreement is in place to several U.S. allies.
- "We are ready to hand that over to the Trump administration so it can work on it and run with it when the opportunity is there," he said at a press conference in Paris last week.
Behind the scenes: Blinken's plan has become a highly contentious issue inside the State Department and a source of fierce internal fighting.
- Some State Department officials were concerned the plan would serve Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's interests and marginalize marginalize the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas.
Catch up-quick: Axios reported in October that Blinken was working on a post-war plan for Gaza based on ideas developed by Israel and the United Arab Emirates and wanted to present it after the presidential election.
- Blinken appointed his adviser and close friend Jamie Rubin as the point person for the day-after plan.
- Several week ago, Rubin traveled to Israel and the West Bank to discuss the plan. U.S. officials said Palestinian Authority officials gave Rubin a long list of reservations about the plan, signaling they don't support it.
- The State Department has briefed the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries on the main points in the speech, U.S. officials said.
Blinken's plan is based on establishing a governing mechanism that will include the involvement of international community and Arab countries that could also send troops to Gaza to stabilize the security situation and deliver humanitarian aid.
- The speech will call for reform of the Palestinian Authority, while making clear the PA must be a part of any future government in Gaza.
- The Israeli government wants Arab countries to be involved in a post-war Gaza but has so far refused to agree to any day-after plan which includes the involvement of the Palestinian Authority.
- Blinken's speech will also reiterate the principles he laid out in Tokyo early in the war and that object to any permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza, the decrease of its territory or the forced transfer of Palestinians from Gaza.
- State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declined to comment.
The bottom line: "Blinken wants to try and shape the outcome of the war and he will make clear in his speech how he thinks Israel can turn its tactical wins against Hamas into strategic gains," a U.S. official said.
