 "Israeli military patrols near the Al Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City amid the ongoing ground operation against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. (Photo: Reuters)")
Israel has downplayed the involvement of Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Gaza Strip and has denied promising Saudi Arabia a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
The developments come amid reports that Israel has partnered with PA in Gaza that was seen by observers as a sign for a greater involvement of PA in the post-war governance of Gaza. In recent days, there has been a renewed push for the Israel-Saudi Arabia normalisation of ties that the latter has conditioned on an irrevocable pathway to Palestinian statehood.
Even though Israel has downplayed the role of PA in Gaza, top officials have confirmed that discussions are ongoing on the post-war governance of Gaza. They have said that Israel prefers to have the international community part of any post-war governance arrangement in Gaza.
The PA is the de facto government of the Palestinians that partially governs West Bank under the Oslo Accords of 1993. Its seat is at Ramallah, West Bank. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Gaza also came under PA, which has been controlled by Palestinian party Fatah, for decades. However, in 2006, Hamas won elections in Gaza and, in the subsequent Palestinian civil war, drove Fatah out of Gaza in 2007 and controlled the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli PMO downplays PA’s role in Gaza
After a report emerged that Israel has partnered with PA in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) downplayed such an arrangement.
Arabic outlet Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday reported that Israel and Egypt have reached an agreement for the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to be managed by PA under the supervision of United Nations (UN). While the Israeli PMO admitted an arrangement has indeed been reached, it downplayed the involvement of PA.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe PMO said the report was an attempt to “create a false picture to the effect that it controls the crossing”, according to The Times of Israel.
The PMO said the arrangement with the PA at Rafah crossing is “for the first stage of the framework and will be evaluated in the future”.
As for the PA’s role at the crossing, the PMO said that the Israeli military currently controls the crossing and “nobody passes through it without supervision, oversight and advance approval of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and Shin Bet [internal intelligence agency]” and that “non-Hamas Gazans” provide technical management at the crossing with international oversight and the PA provides the stamp on passports allowing Palestinians to exit the enclave, as per the ToI.
Has Israel changed position on PA’s role in Gaza?
Since the beginning of the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of PA controlling Gaza after the war even as the previous Joe Biden administration of the United States and international community called for a reformed PA to be in charge of Gaza after the war. That may be changing.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday did not rule out the possibility of the PA playing a role in post-war governance of Gaza, but said it would need to undergo serious reforms, according to The Times of Israel.
In an apparent reference to schemes that dole out payments to families of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons or those killed in clashes with Israel and hailed as ‘martyrs’, Sa’ar said that if the PA would end its support for terror and change its attitudes, “it would be a different Palestinian Authority, and then we could seriously discuss together a better future for both nations”.
Separately, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told the Israeli parliament on Wednesday that Israel is part of discussions on post-war governance of Gaza.
Dermer said, “We’re working on it. I’m part of that work on ‘the day after’ in Gaza but you have to understand that any Israeli plan will be dead on arrival, because it’s an Israeli plan.”
Dermer further said that “we need to harness both the United States and regional powers” to take part in such efforts, according to ToI.
On the question of promising Palestinian statehood to Saudi Arabia, Dermer said that “there’s no promise like this whatsoever.”