From the Liveblog of
Sunday, November 5, 2023
Abbas: PA will take responsibility for Gaza if comprehensive political solution reached
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says during a meeting in Ramallah with US State Secretary Anthony Blinken that the PA is ready to shoulder full responsibility for the Gaza Strip in the framework of a comprehensive political solution that will include the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza after Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group ends.
Abbas stresses that security and peace can only be achieved by ending Israel’s military rule over the territories of the “State of Palestine,” and by recognizing East Jerusalem as its capital.
Abbas also reiterates that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which runs the PA, is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and its sole decision-maker, thereby disavowing rival party Hamas, the terror group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since evicting the PA in a bloody 2007 coup.
The statement comes amid speculation about who will run the coastal enclave in the future and concerns about a power vacuum, as Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas in the ongoing war.
