After four and a half months of war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formalized a first version of what the "day after" in Gaza would be on Thursday, February 22. For weeks, pressure from Israel's main allies, starting with the US, had been mounting to outline a path towards the end of hostilities in Gaza and a program for the establishment of an administration at the end of military operations in the enclave.

While claiming to meet these expectations, the text drawn up by Netanyahu's office laid down maximalist conditions, in contradiction with the American suggestions for a way out of the war, and was immediately rejected by Palestinian organizations.

Strictly speaking, this was not a peace plan for the enclave, the terms of which could be negotiated, but essentially security guidelines to define the situation in Gaza "the day after Hamas," notably maintaining an Israeli military presence in the enclave as well as in the occupied West Bank. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the US's opposition to any "reoccupation" of Gaza.

As stated in the preamble to the text, a version of which has yet to be adopted by the government and which Le Monde has consulted, the immediate mission of the Israeli army remains the same, namely "The IDF will continue the war until its goals are achieved: The destruction of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad’s military capabilities and governmental infrastructure, the return of the hostages, and the prevention of any threats emanating from the Gaza Strip." This underlined Israel's determination to continue military operations in search of Hamas members, even though half of its forces – including its main leaders in Gaza – are said to be beyond its reach.

Israeli sources have estimated that many of these fighters are now in the tunnels around Rafah, in the south of the enclave, on the edge of the border with Egypt, which supports the possibility of a large-scale operation carried out in this area where over a million displaced persons are massed, with incalculable consequences in human terms.

Since January, Israel has also stated its intention of regaining control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the 13-kilometer buffer zone along the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt, to combat arms smuggling to Hamas via the tunnels linking the enclave to Egypt.

This objective has already caused a stir between Tel Aviv and Cairo, which denounced a violation of the Camp David Accords. These peace agreements, signed between Egypt and Israel in 1978, stipulate that no heavy weaponry should be deployed in the area. However, Netanyahu's plan calls for a "southern closure" of the border with Egypt, in order to "prevent the rearmament of terrorist elements in the Gaza Strip." The US has stated its opposition to the possibility of such an operation, especially as the Israeli government has so far failed to formulate a precise plan for its implementation.

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