Arab diplomat: Turkey, Qatar filling vacuum in Gaza created by Israeli refusal to involve PA

By Jacob Magid

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21 January 2026, 11:32 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Displaced Palestinians live amongst the rubble and debris of homes and businesses destroyed in over two years of war in the Gaza Strip, in Jabalia in northern Gaza, on January 17, 2026. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

A senior Arab diplomat says Israel’s refusal to allow the Palestinian Authority to play a role in the postwar management of Gaza is what led to Turkey and Qatar filling the vacuum.

Speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, the Arab diplomat says that Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia had been more open to involvement and investment in Gaza. However, they conditioned their involvement on a more prominent role for the PA, viewing a foothold for Ramallah in Gaza as essential for reconnecting the territory with the West Bank under a single Palestinian governing entity.

Israel has rejected any role for the PA in Gaza, likening the Ramallah-based body to Hamas and insisting that it must undergo significant reforms.

The Arab diplomat says Arab countries also back reforming the PA and are chaperoning Ramallah through that process. However, he claims that the reform demand from Israel is “disingenuous” and a “guise for Jerusalem’s desire to prevent a two-state solution.

There is particular anger in Riyadh over Israel’s withholding of over $4 billion in tax revenues from the PA, as Saudi Arabia has been called on to help compensate for some of those losses, the Arab diplomat says.

Saudi Arabia will have a representative on US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace and the UAE will have a representative on the intermediate Gaza Executive Board, both panels involved in the oversight of the postwar Strip. However, the Arab diplomat says that the appetite in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi along with their allies in the region for more significant involvement and financial investment in Gaza has decreased significantly.

“There’s a feeling that this isn’t heading in the right direction, so the preference for some countries in the Gulf is to mostly remain on the sidelines,” the Arab diplomat says. “Turkey and Qatar have few conditions for their involvement, as they want to maintain influence and demonstrate utility to the US.”