WASHINGTON, Jan 15: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday proposed international security forces and temporary UN leadership to stabilize post-war Gaza where he warned that Hamas has recruited as many fighters as it has lost.
With talks in Qatar closing in on a ceasefire to the devastating 15-month war and days before he leaves office, Blinken laid out his long-awaited roadmap for post-war Gaza and warned that it required Israel accepting a path to a Palestinian state.
Blinken acknowledged the misgivings of Israel -- where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a far-right government and expects even stronger US support under President-elect Donald Trump -- but pleaded for a new approach.
"Without a clear alternative, a post-conflict plan and a credible political horizon for the Palestinians, Hamas -- or something just as abhorrent and dangerous -- will grow back," Blinken said at the Atlantic Council in Washington.
Pointing to the void left as Israel relentlessly bombards Gaza, Blinken said: "We assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost."
"That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war."
In line with his calls since the start of the war, Blinken said that Gaza should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority -- which now holds shaky, partial control of the West Bank and has been repeatedly undermined by Israel. —AFP
