Abbas expresses support for Gaza technocratic committee, despite sidelining of PA

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expresses its support for the new Palestinian technocratic committee that will be tasked with managing daily affairs in Gaza in place of Hamas.

The members of the new panel have not yet been formally announced but they have received official letters from Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov to serve on the transitional committee.

The PA had hoped to control the panel and that one of its ministers would serve as its chairman. But that demand was vetoed by Israel, which has blocked efforts to allow the PA to gain a foothold in Gaza.

Instead, a former PA deputy minister, Ali Shaath, will head the technocratic committee.

The statement from Abbas’s office welcoming the new panel lauds US President Donald Trump’s efforts to stabilize Gaza, in an apparent effort to maintain working ties with Washington in the hope that this will allow for the PA to gradually restore its role in the Strip.

Abbas’s office stresses the importance of not separating Gaza from the West Bank and urges countries to take actions to prevent the further tightening of Israel’s grip on the latter territory.