A secret Israeli plan to persuade a powerful Gazan clan to take power from Hamas was derailed when the terror group executed its leader, The Telegraph can reveal.
Israel is now trying to recruit more moderate Palestinian leaders from the West Bank to rule Gaza after the war.
The plan to install Gaza’s Doghmush clan – the most powerful in the enclave – failed after the group’s leader and several of its allies were assassinated, an Israeli intelligence source with knowledge of the plan said.
Israel has been under pressure from its closest allies, including the United States, to come up with a plan for how Gaza will be run after the war. The Israeli government has also faced pressure from within over its refusal to outline a plan for the future of the coastal territory.
The intelligence source said an attempt was made two months ago to encourage the notorious Doghmush family to take control when the fighting ends.
“We offered the Doghmush control over Gaza,” the source said. “It ended disastrously.”
“The short attempt ended with Hamas entering the clan’s compound, beheading its people, and the next day all the clans jointly announced support for Hamas.”
Significant influence
The Doghmush family had been seen as a viable option to topple terror group Hamas in the battle for political control over the Gaza Strip, where clans wield significant influence.
But each must maintain delicate relationships with Hamas, and there are many deep-seated rivalries.
The plan gave Israel “a potential avenue for alliances based on the age-old adage the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, said the intelligence source.
“This plan was like asking Tony Soprano to govern New Jersey,” the source added.
Seen as the only group with enough power to topple Hamas, the Doghmush clan had a history of conflict with the terror group, including a bloody clash in 2008 that led to the death of at least 10 members of the clan.
Several Israeli officials, unaware of the clan’s activities beyond its militancy, with a network of weapons and drug-smuggling operations, recognised the strategic potential and initiated contact with the clan’s leaders who agreed to discuss the proposals.
Muntez Doghmush, the head of the clan, which is known for its connections to al-Qaeda, is also listed among the US’s most wanted terrorists. Its notoriety has also made it unpopular with Gazans.
In March, the Times of Israel reported that Hamas had killed Doghmush after accusing him of having dealings with Israel, saying the clan had consequently declared all Hamas members targets.
Controlling the smuggling
Originally hailing from Turkey, the clan now straddles the border between Gaza’s Rafah and Egypt, allowing it to control the smuggling in the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, Solomon explained.
“There isn’t any other force in Rafah and south Gaza that’s as powerful as the Doghmush clan,” said Ronen Solomon, an Israeli security analyst who has been researching the clan since the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2005.
Senior Israeli officials are now drawing up plans to find credible alternative rulers for “the day after” the war, with the hope of persuading younger and more moderate members of Fatah, who operate the ruling Palestinian Authority (PA), to run Gaza in a way that its population can live side by side with Israel.
Oded Ailam, the former head of Israel’s counter-terrorism centre, said that after the war is over, “there remains one alternative, difficult to digest and problematic: returning Fatah to Gaza and not allowing Hamas to integrate into the mechanism that will be established”.
“In order for the move to succeed, we must find worthy partners both among Fatah in Gaza as well as import from the West Bank,” Mr Ailam said.
Relying on even moderate Fatah leaders creates a complex web of problems for Israel, however.
Dr Khalil Shikaki, from the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, said: “Based on the current findings, only a few Palestinians would find this acceptable.”
He added: “If the choice is between Hamas and the PA, the majority would go with Hamas without hesitation.”
Mr Ailam, the former counter-terror chief, warned that offering Fatah control of both the West Bank and Gaza would also create the basis of a unified Palestinian state – something the government of Benjamin Netanyahu opposes.
Other alternatives, including an Israeli military administration, or the introduction of a multinational peacekeeping force, would not be likely to work, he said.