Four and a half months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli prime minister has brought his plan to the war cabinet for approval

Four and a half months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled his plan for "the day after," which he brought late Thursday night to the war cabinet from approval. Until now, Netanyahu had failed to present any vision for postwar Gaza, despite intense international and domestic pressure to do so.

According to a document published by the Prime Minister's Office, the short-term goals of the campaign remain unchanged: destroying the military capabilities and governmental infrastructure of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, securing the release of the hostages and preventing any threat to Israel from the Gaza Strip in the future.

In the medium term, according to Netanyahu's plan, Israel will maintain freedom of military operation in Gaza, will set up a buffer zone and will engage in operations to thwart smuggling along the Egypt-Gaza border. The prime minister said that this would be done in conjunction with the United States and with the assistance of the U.S., although Egypt has expressed reservations over the deployment of Israeli troops along its border with Gaza. The postwar plan adds that Israel will also maintain security control over the West Bank.

Netanyahu's proposal also deals with the civic government of postwar Gaza. His proposal is that civic affairs and responsibility for public order in Gaza "will be based on professionals with managerial experience. These local officials must not be identified with states or organizations that support terror and must not receive salaries from them."

Netanyahu's plan goes on to say that Israel will work to ensure the permanent closure of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and the establishment of a new international body. The prime minister added that "rebuilding Gaza will only be possible once the Strip has been demilitarized and once a process of deradicalization has started. The rehabilitation plan will be carried out with funding from and under the leadership of countries of which Israel approves."

Netanyahu's statement added that, "Israel utterly rejects international diktats over a final-status agreement with the Palestinians," adding that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by the international community "would grant a huge prize to terrorism, the like of which we have not seen before, and would prevent any future peace agreement."

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to a question regarding Netanyahu's post-war plan. "I've seen the reports, I haven't seen the plan. I want to reserve judgement until we see the details."

In response to a question on settlements, he said, "We've seen the reports. I have to say we're disappointed in the announcement. "This only weakens, and doesn't strengthen, Israel's security," he added.

"It's been longstanding U.S. policy, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, that new settlements are counterproductive to reaching an enduring peace. They're also inconsistent with international law."

"Our administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion," Blinken said.

"There's certain basic principles we set out many months ago. It cannot be a platform for terrorism, there should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza, the size of Gaza's territory should not be reduced."

National Security Council spokesperson reiterated the U.S.' objection to the building of additional homes in settlements, saying "they're also inconsistent with international law."

"This isn't about the previous administration. We're simply reaffirming the fundamental conclusion that these settlements are inconsistent with international law. This has been consistent over a range of Republican and Democratic administrations. If there was an administration that was inconsistent, it was the previous one,"