Retired Israel Defense Forces Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi joined Newsmax's "National Report" on Thursday, offering a cautiously optimistic outlook on the path toward peace in Gaza, provided Israel's security remains uncompromised.
Avivi, founder and chairman of Israel's Defense and Security Forum, said President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan contains "the terms we need" — but emphasized that Israel's military and territorial security must guide every stage of implementation.
"I think that the terms are there; we need to make sure that things happen the way they were agreed upon," Avivi said. "Now it's the first stage, and the first stage is releasing all 48 hostages. Israel, all the Israelis, are really, really expecting to see in the coming days the hostages coming back. There are now many people in the streets waving flags, singing, happy. It feels [like] victory in the air."
Avivi outlined a vision for Gaza's future that prioritizes complete demilitarization before any Israeli withdrawal.
"Israel eventually, only when Gaza will be completely demilitarized, will retreat," he said, "but will still maintain control of the Philadelphia corridor, of the perimeter of northern parts of the Gaza Strip. Israel will have freedom of operation to foil any attempt to rebuild terror attacks."
He added that Israel's long-term presence in key border areas is essential to prevent the resurgence of groups like Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
"Israel, of course, is not agreeing to any scenario where there will be Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or even the Palestinian Authority, which funds terror with billions – pay for slay, as they call it," Avivi said.
Drawing comparisons to Israel's current security model in Judea and Samaria, Avivi argued that Gaza's future stability will depend on Israel's proactive operations against terror threats.
"In the long term, I would say that the reality in Gaza will be similar, in a way, to what we see in Judea and Samaria," he noted.
Avivi also rejected any peace framework that would shrink Israel's strategic depth, as was suggested by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a recent statement.
"This idea of Israeli retreat from the Jordan Valley and the mountains of Judea and Samaria to create a state with the width of nine miles on the shore, is basically saying to Israel, you cannot exist," he said.
Instead, he suggested a decentralized model for Palestinian self-governance.
"We see today in Gaza ... clans controlling different areas ... a kind of emirates like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, city states. That might be a solution in the long term," Avivi said. "We need to push a new vision that bridges between Israel's existential needs and self-governance for Palestinians. It's possible."
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