Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party have reached an agreement to form a committee to manage post-war Gaza collaboratively, negotiators from both sides announced on Tuesday.
According to a draft proposal, the plan requires Abbas’s consent and would consist of about 15 apolitical individuals with expertise in the economy, education, health, humanitarian assistance, and reconstruction.
Following discussions in Cairo facilitated by Egypt, the two opposing factions decided that the committee would oversee the Palestinian administration of the Rafah checkpoint at the Egyptian border, which is the territory’s only crossing not co-managed with Israel.
The Fatah delegation, led by central committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, intends to return to Ramallah on Tuesday to obtain Abbas’s final approval. Politburo member Khalil al-Hayya led the Hamas delegation.
This initiative arises amidst a resurgence of diplomatic efforts aimed at concluding the Gaza conflict, triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
These diplomatic initiatives, spearheaded by the United States along with Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, come nearly a week after a fragile ceasefire took effect between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Since Hamas ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip following violent clashes in the aftermath of Hamas’s overwhelming electoral victory in 2006, the two have been fierce adversaries.
Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, while the secular Fatah movement governs the Palestinian Authority and maintains partial administrative authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
As President Joe Biden’s administration gets ready to transfer power to President-elect Donald Trump in January, Palestinians are under significant pressure from the U.S. to ensure that Hamas will not have a presence in Gaza after the war concludes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration noted as one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, has made the eradication of Hamas in Gaza one of its primary military objectives. Additionally, the government has frequently voiced firm opposition to any role for the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip following the war.
