JERUSALEM, Israel—If Hamas is dismantled and the war between Israel and the terrorist group comes to an end, Israel will need to step in and “rule Gaza” for a time, a former international spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces says.
“I think in [an] interim period, Israel will apply a military occupation of it and rule Gaza to make sure that Hamas is indeed defeated, that there [are] no pockets of resistance and terrorism and guerrilla [warfare], etc.,” Jonathan Conricus, the ex-IDF spokesman, told The Daily Signal at the Jewish News Syndicate International Policy Summit in Jerusalem.
Once Hamas and its sympathizers are completely defeated in Gaza, “Israel will move out, and then it will transition,” said Conricus, who is also a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It has to transition to local self-governance by…
