United States and Germany plead for Palestinian governance in Gaza after the war
The head of German diplomacy and the American ambassador to Israel called on Monday for a reformed Palestinian Authority to play a key role in post-war governance in Gaza, during a conference in the Israeli city of Herzliya.
“The Palestinian Authority must be part” of the “day after” in the Gaza Strip, US Ambassador Jacob Lew said, emphasizing the need for “civil administration” in the territory currently ravaged by war.
Washington is pleading for reform of Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA), which sits in the occupied West Bank, so that it can play a key role in the political reconstruction of Gaza.
“We need to find a way to get these people working together in a way that suits everyone’s needs. And I believe it is possible,” added the ambassador, suggesting that a PA in Gaza could also suit Israel which is currently fighting Hamas there. “To call this a victory for Hamas would be to take things backwards,” he added, referring to the position of the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu for whom the recognition of a Palestinian state would be a “reward” for the unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement on October 7.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also pleaded for the “two-state” solution, which according to her remains “the best path towards lasting peace”, and a “reform”, without “destroying” it, of the Palestinian Authority. “It is dangerous and counterproductive to destroy and destabilize the established structures of the Palestinian Authority,” she argued during this conference which was also attended by many officers of the Israeli army.
