(Cairo) Representatives of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, agreed on the formation of a committee responsible for administering the Gaza Strip after the war , AFP learned on Tuesday from negotiators from both camps.
Posted at 6:54 a.m.
Updated at 9:31 a.m.
Following discussions in Cairo under the aegis of the Egyptian authorities, the Palestinian enemy brothers approved a draft agreement to be validated by a presidential decree from Mr. Abbas, according to a member of the Hamas negotiating team and another from Fatah.
But in the process, in Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank, the plan was rejected by Jibril Rajoub, the influential secretary general of Fatah, who saw it as a factor of “division” among the Palestinians.
“We want one government, one security apparatus and one policy. Any discussion or effort outside of this framework is a mistake,” he explained to journalists.
According to him, it is essential to “protect” Palestinian institutions such as the PA rather than forming separate committees here and there distinct between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
“We will not participate in any approach that reinforces division or conforms to the will of Mr. Netanyahu,” the Israeli Prime Minister.
Unaffiliated
According to the text of the project seen by AFP, the committee, to be made up of 10 to 15 personalities not affiliated with either movement, would have authority over all matters relating to humanitarian aid, education , health, economy and reconstruction, in coordination with the Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah.
The committee would also be responsible for administering the Palestinian part of the Rafah crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the small territory’s only gateway to a country other than Israel.
The executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), where Fatah dominates but to which Hamas does not belong, is due to meet Tuesday evening, according to one of its members, and could decide whether or not to accept the Cairo agreement.
“How would this agreement be implemented when Israel controls Gaza militarily? » asks Ghassan Khatib, Palestinian analyst and former member of the government.
This professor at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank emphasizes that the Israeli authorities have not yet reacted although they reoccupy the Gaza Strip and control all access points to the small territory.
“If this agreement is implemented, it will free Israel from its obligations as an occupier,” said Mr. Khatib.
Diplomatic initiative
The announcement of the agreement comes against a backdrop of a renewal of diplomatic initiative to put an end to the war between Hamas and Israel which has devastated the Gaza Strip, prey, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to an “apocalyptic” situation.
These efforts, under the aegis of the United States, in coordination with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, according to Washington, are taking place in the wake of the entry into force of a fragile truce in Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah, ally of Hamas.
While the American administration of Joe Biden must hand over to Donald Trump in January, the Palestinians are under strong pressure from Washington to guarantee that Hamas will play no role in Gaza once the war is over.
The Islamist movement has made it clear in recent months that it is not interested in administering current affairs in the Gaza Strip once the war is over.
The government of Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing in the history of Israel, has made the destruction of Hamas in Gaza one of its war aims, but has also repeatedly expressed its firm opposition to seeing the Authority Palestinian return to Gaza.
The war was started on October 7, 2023 by an unprecedented attack by Hamas which led to the death of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data and including hostages killed or dead. in captivity.
The Israeli military campaign of retaliation on the Gaza Strip has left at least 44,502 dead, the majority civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN
