Yechezkeli: Hamas will seize any Gaza force trained in Egypt

Analyst Zvi Yechezkeli attacked a proposal to train 20,000 Gazans who are not Hamas members in Egypt, saying the plan is doomed to fail. Speaking Tuesday on the Patzhi ve'Zamri Ba'am program, Yechezkel argued that no significant force exists in Gaza today that is not under Hamas influence or supportive of the organization.

"You asked me if there are twenty thousand in Gaza who aren't Hamas? Yes, there are. In the cemeteries in Gaza, there are such people," Yechezkel isaid. He added: "There's no such thing in Gaza that you're not under Hamas rule and you're not a Hamas supporter. Whoever doesn't support Hamas is already gone and doesn't exist."

He compared the plan to the Oslo Accords and argued that a force trained in Egypt and brought into the Strip with weapons would be unable to stand against Hamas. "You bring twenty thousand who'll be trained in Egypt, you make them do jumping jacks, firing ranges, you bring in weapons for them, and Hamas after two days runs them in their underwear with blood on their heads and takes all the weapons from them," he said.

To explain his concern, he recalled Hamas's 2007 takeover of Gaza. "I saw the coup in 2007, I was there live. I saw senior Fatah people coming out in their underwear from the headquarters, and the weapons flowed to Hamas and that's how the coup happened," he said.

He also questioned how such a plan could be presented to the public after October 7th, and cast doubt on the possibility that Hamas would lay down its weapons. "These are Islamist organizations that hold onto their weapons until the moment you come to put a bullet in their head and even in the moment after," he said. The remarks came in response to the hosts' question about the possibility of establishing and training a Gazan force that is not Hamas.