In a bold move that further deepens the rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Biden administration, Netanyahu has challenged President Biden’s plan for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to assume governance in Gaza.
Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu expressed skepticism about the PA’s capacity to take on the responsibility for Gaza. “I think the PA in its current form is not capable of accepting the responsibility for Gaza after we’ve fought and done all this, to pass it to them,” Netanyahu asserted, highlighting his reservations about the PA’s ability to govern effectively.
This stance is not new for Netanyahu, who previously emphasized Israel’s necessity to maintain “overall military responsibility” in Gaza “for the foreseeable future.” The PA had once administered both the occupied West Bank and Gaza but was expelled from the latter in 2007 following a brief civil war with Hamas.
Netanyahu’s declaration that the Israeli military will have “full freedom” to operate within Gaza post-war directly contradicts the vision laid out by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken has stated that the U.S. opposes an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and envisions a unified Palestinian government in both Gaza and the West Bank as a crucial step towards establishing a Palestinian state—a prospect long opposed by Netanyahu’s government.
The clash of visions between Netanyahu and the U.S. administration raises concerns about the potential for prolonged instability in the region and the challenging road ahead for establishing a cohesive governance structure that aligns with the aspirations of the Palestinian people. As the geopolitical dynamics continue to evolve, the dispute over Gaza’s future governance remains a focal point in the complex landscape of the Israel-Palestine conflict.