Rhino: Agencies – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Israel must develop a clear and specific plan for the future of the Gaza Strip as it faces the prospect of a power vacuum that could be filled by chaos. The remarks prompted an apparently hostile Israeli response, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that post-war planning is impossible without first completing the elimination of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Washington and its ally Israel agree that Hamas should not remain in control of Gaza after its militants sparked the conflict with cross-border killings and kidnappings last October. But the two allies disagree on Israel’s pursuit of a ‘total victory’ over Hamas, including in the southern city of Rafah, with the US warning that any major operation there could risk the lives of displaced Palestinians who have gathered there. ‘We do not and will not support the Israeli occupation, and we certainly do not support Hamas rule in Gaza,’ Blinken said during a press conference in Kiev. We have seen what it has often led to for the people of Gaza and Israel. Nor can there be a power vacuum because it would be filled with chaos).
