Washington imposes sanctions on settlers accused of violence in the West Bank

The American administration does not find easy answers in Tel Aviv and Ramallah to the many questions about the “day after” after the war on the Gaza Strip. If some goals intersect to some extent between Washington, Ramallah, and Tel Aviv, when things come to the final goal, it becomes clear that each of them is singing on its own. Washington wants a “renewed” Palestinian authority to rule the West Bank and Gaza, and the authority wants to govern according to a comprehensive agreement that leads to a two-state solution, and Israel, with its current government, does not want a two-state solution, nor does the Palestinian state, nor the current authority, nor even a renewed authority, and it may want to undermine the entire authority if it is possible. She has that.

During the two months since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip following the Hamas attacks on October 7, the US administration has been engaged in shuttle trips and discussions, in which almost every person with a position and influence in this administration participated, including US President Joe Biden and his vice president. Kamala Harris, his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in addition to other officials, in an attempt to reach an agreed upon, reasonable and workable vision. But the Americans faced a reality that was more complex than the slogans, wishes, and aspirations seemed.

The American administration is trying to advance initial understandings that a Palestinian authority must govern Gaza after the war. Talking about a Palestinian authority does not mean the authority in its current form. This authority refused to return to ruling Gaza except within a comprehensive political agreement, and it is an authority originally rejected by Israel, which prompted Washington to use the term “renewed Palestinian authority,” knowing that this proposal, after all, met with anger in Ramallah, and rejection as well. in Israel.

Informed Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is angry with the American administration, which he considers to have aligned with Israel’s position in the bloody aggression against Gaza first, and then in the attack on the Palestinian Authority.

The sources confirmed that the idea of ​​a “renewed authority” is rejected in Ramallah, on the basis that the reasons and objectives of the proposal are known, and that it is essentially an Israeli attempt to undermine the Palestinian Authority later.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told members of the Palestinian leadership in a meeting held on December 2 that he would not allow what he described as a “conspiracy” to pass, and he told them that “there is a clear address for everything, which is the PLO, including it, no new authority.” “Not renewed or anything else.”

Abbas and the Palestinian leadership believe that there is a “conspiracy” against the Palestinian Authority being hatched at the height of the devastating war on the Gaza Strip, a conviction expressed by Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh at the beginning of a speech before the Palestinian government on Monday, saying that Israel is waging a war against the Palestinian Authority and all… The Palestinians, adding: “The Prime Minister of the occupation government sees in the organization, the authority, and the government the symbol of Palestinian nationalism, the symbol of the state, the symbol of the unity of the political title, and the symbol of the unity of the Palestinian territories, so he fights us daily.”

The war that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is waging against the Authority is not only related to his refusal to return it to Gaza, but rather he is inciting against Abbas, and saying that he denies the “Holocaust” (Nazism against the Jews) and the “massacre” (which was carried out by Hamas fighters on October 7). He also accuses him of “financing terrorism,” that his authority is weak in the West Bank, and that he was previously tested in Gaza before Hamas took it from him in 2007.

This comes at a time when Israel is imposing a daily atmosphere of war on the West Bank, killing and arresting Palestinians, including members of the Palestinian Authority, from which Tel Aviv has withheld clearing funds, leaving it unable to pay salaries.

A Palestinian official told Asharq Al-Awsat: “They (the Israelis) seek to undermine the authority. They want to get rid of it in the West Bank as well, not just in Gaza.” He added: “Look at how Netanyahu deals with the idea of ​​a Palestinian authority in Gaza… He rejects any Palestinian there and says that establishing the authority was originally a mistake.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that he does not want a Palestinian authority in Gaza. But he was more clear in closed talks last week when he said not only that there would be no Palestinian Authority or renewed authority in Gaza after the war, but that “there will be no Palestinian Authority in Gaza at all.” The Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority (Kan 11) reported, in a report published on Monday evening, that Netanyahu said this to the Americans.

Netanyahu is planning security control in the Gaza Strip, a plan opposed by the Americans who believe that Palestinian rule for themselves is the best option.

Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate, spoke with Abbas on Monday, telling him there must be a clear political horizon, and reiterated US support for unifying the West Bank and Gaza under a renewed Palestinian authority. The US Vice President told the Palestinian President that to follow up on this conversation and her meetings in Dubai related to planning for “the day after,” her national security adviser, Dr. Phil Gordon, will travel to Israel and the West Bank this week for additional discussions.

But Abbas told her that it was not possible to accept Israel’s plans in Gaza, adding that “there is no separation, no occupation, no cutting off or isolating any part of the Gaza Strip,” and he told her that the best solution was to “convene an international peace conference, in order to provide international guarantees.” And the timetable for implementation, and assuming full responsibility for the entire Palestinian territory in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.” He added, “Security and military solutions have proven their failure and will not achieve security and stability for the region.”

What Abbas proposes is rejected by Israel in the first place, and what Washington proposes is rejected by both parties, in whole or in part, and this includes the idea of ​​holding Palestinian elections, an idea that Washington put forward without realizing that post-war elections might mean the victory of “Hamas,” which all current American moves aim to exclude. .

Washington acknowledges the complexities, and Secretary Blinken said in his last visit to the region that the US administration has no illusion that this will be easy and “there will be disagreements along the way,” but the other options, he said, are “terrorist attacks, more violence, and more suffering of innocent people.” This is unacceptable.”

But if Israel does not want a Palestinian authority, and says it does not want to occupy Gaza, then what does it want?

In fact, it does not seem that anyone knows what Netanyahu wants, neither in the Israeli security services, nor in the Palestinian Authority.

In this context, a Palestinian official told Yedioth Ahronoth: “The political level is not concerned with returning power to the Gaza Strip. We get it. But he is also not concerned with Israeli military rule. so what? UNRWA (Refugee Relief)? United nations? Maybe Switzerland? We must understand. There is no serious international option. No one stands in line and wants to bear responsibility for managing the Gaza Strip. If Israel does not plan to take responsibility, it will be forced to understand that the Palestinian Authority is the party that must be taken into account, for the day after Hamas in Gaza.

In short, the authority refuses to return to Gaza on the back of a tank, and Washington says that any authority, if it returns, must be renewed. As for Netanyahu, he says that no Palestinian will rule the Strip directly after the war because Israel is the one who will assume responsibility for security there for an indefinite period. It is clear that no one has a clear plan for the “next day,” but rather just ideas. Sometimes it is a transitional period, sometimes international forces, and sometimes Arab forces for the day that follows the overthrow of Hamas’ rule.

But the most important question is: Will the day after “Hamas” really come?

The Israelis say this is complicated and will require a long process. As for French President Emmanuel Macron, he considered that this may require 10 years of work.

In the end, everyone seems convinced that Hamas is not just a tunnel that can be destroyed by military force, but rather an ideology as well.