The IDF has begun clearing the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza of Hamas terrorists so that Israel can carry out a pilot program, in which a Gazan citizen will manage the neighborhood instead of Hamas, Channel 12 News reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, Israel's goal is for those local elements to control the receipt of humanitarian aid and distribute it to the residents in order to create an alternative to the terrorist organization in the northern Gaza Strip.
The main challenge is to secure the area and prevent Hamas from returning to it.
The report also said that, as part of the preparation for the program, Gazan representatives recently met with Israeli officials in order to promote the move. Despite the plan, the residents of the northern Gaza Strip who fled their homes and moved south in the past several months, will not be able to return to the northern Gaza Strip yet, and the pilot will be applied to the residents who remained there.
As part of the pilot, Israel is placing an emphasis on a complete change of the educational books taught in the schools in the Gaza Strip, and which incite to hatred of Israel and hatred of Jews.