By Abdul Raouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - Any potential Israeli military rule in Gaza would cost Tel Aviv at least 20 billion shekels ($5.4 billion) annually, reported daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday citing an official document.
The newspaper said that the Israeli security establishment prepared a document analyzing the financial consequences of establishing a military government in the Gaza Strip.
The cost of a military rule over the Gaza Strip is “estimated at approximately 20 billion shekels annually ($5.4 billion),” said the newspaper quoting that report.
“The cost of constructing an additional corridor to the Strip is estimated at approximately 150 million shekels ($40.4 million),” it added.
Beyond these figures, additional costs will include the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip -- covering infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and roads -- as well as establishing infrastructure for the military government and other related expenses, the report added.
It also highlighted the need for 400 positions to manage an Israeli military administration in the Gaza Strip.
“In terms of military strength, four offensive divisions and one defensive division will be needed. This will necessitate reducing the number of battalions in the Northern Command (Lebanon and Syria) and the Central Command (the West Bank), along with a significant increase in the reserve forces for operational deployment,” according to the document.
The daily Yedioth Ahronoth said that "Netanyahu's stubborn refusal to discuss the future of Gaza and alternatives to a Hamas rule forces Israel to manage life in Gaza."
“Does Israel have the ability to return and manage life in the Gaza Strip? Will the country’s economy bear this burden?” it added.
According to the newspaper, the document clearly indicates that Israel cannot bear the burden. It noted that the army's capacity to prepare for a potential northern front, as well as to thwart attacks in the occupied West Bank and throughout Israel, will be compromised.
"Controlling Gaza means an unprecedented budget crisis,” it concluded.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.
More than 35,300 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority being women and children, and over 79,200 others injured since the Hamas incursion last October.
More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi