Palestinian Authority Doesn’t Want Responsibility for Post-War Gaza

Jerusalem, 23 October, 2023 (TPS) -- The Palestinian Authority will play no role in rebuilding post-war Gaza without one condition which Israel is not necessarily likely to agree to, the Tazpit Press Service has learned.

“The Palestinians will not agree to accept responsibility for the Gaza Strip except within the framework of a comprehensive political agreement and the drawing up of a new road map,” an Arab diplomat who participated in this weekend’s Cairo summit told TPS.

The source said PA officials in Ramallah view Gaza as ruined and are unwilling to spearhead the Strip’s rehabilitation without the framework of a comprehensive political agreement and establishment of an international fund for rebuilding.

He added that Cairo views the war as a threat to Egypt’s own national security. Egypt, he said, will support the Palestinians towards outlining a new road map for peace. He also suggested that, contrary to prevailing diplomatic belief, Egypt might even agree to adjustments in its border with Gaza.

But he stressed one specific Cairo red line.

“Egypt is determined to disengage from the Gaza Strip the day after, and therefore will press for full responsibility to the Palestinian Authority within the framework of a broad political settlement.”

Sources in Israel confirmed to TPS that there is dialogue between Jerusalem and Cairo on the matter.

“The war in the Gaza Strip puts the relations between Israel and Egypt to the test, but there is no danger to the stability of the peace,” a high ranking Israeli political figure told TPS.

Western and Arab diplomats met in Cairo over the weekend in a bid to head off an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza following Hamas’s attack on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip. Since then, terror groups in Lebanon have stepped up rocket fire into northern Israel. The summit ended on Saturday night without any consensus to even agree on a joint statement.