Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that Israel wants the Palestinian Authority to be an “administrative security authority,” stressing that “the Palestinian leadership is not of anyone’s size, its legitimacy comes from its people, and the people’s voice is in the ballot box.”
This came in a speech today, Monday, during the opening of the weekly session of the Palestinian government in the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank, according to a statement issued by the Palestinian Prime Minister’s Office.
Recently, there has been increased talk about the form and role of the Palestinian Authority after the war on the Gaza Strip, as Israel rejects the current form of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
For weeks, Ramallah and Tel Aviv have witnessed intense visits by a number of European and American officials.
The US administration’s confidence in the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, and their effective activities to prevent many attacks on Israel, prompts discussion of reactivating those forces and their security services to play a role in the Gaza Strip after the war, according to reports published by Western and Israeli media.
Last week, Bloomberg reported, citing Shtayyeh, that the Palestinian Authority is working with American officials on a plan to manage the Gaza Strip after the end of the war.
What does Israel want from the Palestinian Authority?
In his speech, Shtayyeh stressed the need to enable the authority to hold elections, including the city of Jerusalem, and implement the reform program it adopted two years ago.
He continued, “The renewed authority that Israel and its allies want is not our authority. Israel wants an administrative security authority. We are a national authority struggling to embody the state on the ground, leading to independence and ending the occupation.”
Shtayyeh said that Israel wants an authority with a school curriculum that coexists with the occupation, adding, “Our national curriculum says about Jerusalem as our capital, and talks about the right of return, and is consistent with international standards and based on science and learning, and reflects our history, civilization, and culture.”
He considered that Israel wants an authority that abandons prisoners and martyrs, continuing, “We say these are our children, and we are a government responsible for the children of martyrs and prisoners, and they are the conscience of the Palestinian national movement.”
It is noteworthy that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed his readiness to fight the security forces of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, stressing that the Gaza Strip will remain under Israeli security control after the war.
Netanyahu added – according to statements leaked by Israeli media about him before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee – that he would not allow the Palestinian Authority to return to rule in the Gaza Strip under any circumstances.
Financial blockade
The Palestinian Prime Minister called on the world to help stop the aggression and end the occupation, and “not to lead us into mazes of wasting time or into empty spirals,” adding, “In Gaza, there is a time of blood, and in Gaza, there is a time of hunger, demolition, and destruction.”
He pointed out that what is required of the world and the United Nations is to set a timetable to end the occupation, end the suffering of the Palestinian people, and recognize the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, as well as the right of return for refugees.
Shtayyeh added that there are those who are talking about renewing and revitalizing or strengthening the authority, and we want to strengthen the work of the authority. This means that it can work on its land and stop the aggression and invasions of Al-Aqsa Mosque, cities, camps and villages, lift the financial blockade imposed on us, stop deductions from our funds, and stop settlement and the terrorism of the colonialists.
The Palestinian Prime Minister’s talk about the financial siege comes at a time when Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledged not to transfer any financial sum to what he called the Nazis in Ramallah. The minister wrote on the
The statements of the Israeli Minister of Finance come two days after announcing that an agreement had been reached between the Authority and Israel regarding the transfer of funds owed to the Palestinians by the occupation, under American auspices.