The American plan for the reconstruction of Gaza – revealed in the Washington Post at the beginning of the week and so far not denied by the administration – provides a glimpse into how President Donald Trump's people see the coming months. The initial impression from the document is the person who most likely authored it: Jared Kushner.
Although he holds no official position, there are many people who are in the know about the developments and insist that the president's son-in-law is deeply involved in Middle Eastern affairs. Kushner, the driving force behind the Abraham Accords, was the first to talk about evacuating Gaza and rebuilding it back in 2024. A year before the historic deals, Kushner convened a huge economic conference in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, which presented a detailed economic plan for the Palestinian Authority. The great similarity between the "2019 Manama Vision" and the "2025 Gaza Plan" immediately stands out to anyone familiar with what happened then.
In any case, what is a thousand times more important regarding the new plan is our part in it. From the Trump administration's perspective, Israel has a crucial role in the journey to turn Gaza into a paradise. Time and again, Israel – meaning the IDF – is tasked with eliminating Hamas.
"Recovery in Gaza depends on dismantling Hamas," the plan says on page 4. There is even a timeline. For "6 to 12 months ... Israel fights to dismantle Hamas," it says on page 10. There are more examples, and they overlap one-to-one with the resolute message Trump recently conveyed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "Finish the job." Another point is that despite the ridicule in Israel, the administration actually places great hope in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). It is the one supposed to provide Gazans with food and to do so without Hamas. The Americans note that this challenging phase could be shortened, "if Hamas agrees to disarm voluntarily", which does not seem very realistic and passes the ball to IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
The plan says that "Once Gaza is demilitarized and deradicalized, the Trust will transfer authorities to an independent Palestinian Polity." In other words, the Trump administration envisions an independent Arab-Palestinian rule in Gaza. It is interesting what Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich think about this goal. So far, they have not said a word about an "independent Palestinian government," and perhaps the reason for this is that, for now, everything is still stuck in the same initial stage that is a condition for the entire process: "Israel fights to dismantle Hamas."
Because this condition is not currently being met. In the current state of affairs, Zamir is not presenting a plan that will achieve the goal of "dismantling Hamas." According to what he told the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet in the last meeting, the collapse of the organization will take a long time. In the best case, months. In the less good case, years. At least that is what the ministers understood.
And this is a serious problem. Because as long as Hamas continues to function as a military organization with a unified command, it is impossible to move forward on any aspect. Not to bring home the hostages, not to end the war, and not to build an alternative government in Gaza. No international body will destroy Hamas for us. Not America and not France, not Saudi Arabia and not the Emirates. This important mission, which is a necessary condition for returning normalcy to Israel, for stopping the international tide against us, and for starting to rebuild lives, rests solely on the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the other security branches.
Because in the end, the ones on the ground are the soldiers commanded by the chief of staff. Not Orit Strock, not Bezalel Smotrich, and not Netanyahu. Lt. Gen. Zamir is the one who tells the soldiers what to do. Just as Yitzhak Rabin was the chief of staff of the victory in the Six-Day War, and David Elazar was the chief of staff who recovered from the surprise of the Yom Kippur War, Lt. Gen. Zamir is the one who needs to provide results – not excuses. Because maybe in the television studios they will defend him, but in the White House sits Donald Trump, waiting. And on the ground, there are 20 living hostages, 28 dead, and one Nazi organization that should have been destroyed long ago.
The soldiers are ready to carry out such an order to destroy Hamas. The government gave it long ago. The army and its leader are the ones who must execute. It is that simple. On the day he took office, Zamir said, "From here our faces are turned in one direction – victory and the defeat of the enemy! This is our mission, this is our destiny. Upon our enemies who sought to destroy us, who slaughtered and raped, who burned and kidnapped – we will land a crushing blow! 'We will not return until they are finished.'" These are true and strong words. But half a year has passed. Now is the time to execute.
