A Palestinian national unity government is urgently needed

One of the many reasons US President Donald Trump made his outlandish remarks about taking over Gaza and removing its people was based on false information. Trump, — who seems to have only been briefed by his right-wing Cabinet and ambassadorial team, as well as Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted for war crimes — argued that there is no one that can govern Gaza. That falsehood has been created because the current settler-influenced Israeli government not only refuses to allow Hamas to govern the Gaza Strip but also rejects any role for the Ramallah-based Palestinian government.

Naturally, much can be said about the performance of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s leadership in Ramallah, but no one questions its legitimacy. In fact, the Israelis themselves recognize, deal with and sometimes honor the agreements signed with the PLO.

The second and third phases of the current ceasefire agreement include the need to finalize the prisoner exchange and end the Israeli army’s presence in the Gaza Strip and along the Egyptian border with Palestine. This will require an answer as to who will govern Gaza and thereby ensure that the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack by Hamas’ military wing will not be repeated.

Various offers have been made in this regard but they have all failed to materialize. Israel has made it clear that it refuses any Hamas role, as well as any role for the legitimate Palestinian government based in Ramallah.

For its part, Israel has attempted to recreate what was known in the 1980s as the Village Leagues, which basically means appointing local tribal and large family leaders to run Gaza. No one from Gaza was interested.

Then Egypt offered a technocratic committee made up of people who are neither Hamas nor Fatah. The Palestinian leadership rejected this idea, fearing it would create a dual legal system, one in Gaza and one in the West Bank, thereby legitimizing rather than ending the split.

The PLO-Hamas split was caused when Hamas militants threw out the national guard security that was loyal to the Palestinian presidency and replaced it with what was then called the Executive Force, made up of armed Hamas personnel.

The fact is that Hamas cannot and is unlikely to rule Gaza not only because Israel will not agree to it, but also because the Strip will receive no reconstruction funds if the group continues to govern it. But while Hamas will not solely govern Gaza, there is no doubt that anyone doing so will need to have the acquiescence of the armed men of Hamas that have withstood and caused pain and damage to the Israeli army, and therefore could do the same to any invader that enters without their approval.

The above failures all make it clear that the best and most sustainable solution that will receive acceptance by the world community is some form of the current Ramallah-based Palestinian government. But for the Ramallah security forces to be able to govern the Gaza Strip, a political solution needs to be found to which Hamas will agree.

The general framework that many believe can work is for a national unity government to be formed in consultation with the political leadership of Hamas. Such a government need not have any Hamas members in it, but it would make sense if Hamas could be involved in the choice of the governing team and could reach an agreement with the PLO on the way a national unity government running the West Bank and Gaza would operate.

For the Ramallah security forces to be able to govern the Gaza Strip, a political solution needs to be found to which Hamas will agree.

Daoud Kuttab

Such a unity government would require an agreement on the future efforts aimed at ending the Israeli occupation and ensuring the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Politically, Hamas agrees to a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, but the big question is how to get to that goal. Here, a major disagreement might arise, as Hamas will insist on the need for retaining some form of armed resistance to the occupation, while the moderate PLO leadership under Mahmoud Abbas has long opposed any form of militarization of the resistance, considering that the group has signed an agreement with Israel.

The Oslo Accords were supposed to be a five-year transitional period, but that has turned into more than 30 years. It is also true that the illegal Jewish settler population has quadrupled in size since the signing of the Declaration of Principles at the White House in 1993. On the other hand, the armed resistance that Hamas espouses has also proven disastrous to the Palestinian people, even though it has helped gain (due largely to the Israelis’ genocidal war) huge sympathy and solidarity around the world.

Palestinians need to remove any excuse or justification for delaying Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in the next two phases by quickly reaching some sort of power-sharing plan that can include a national unity government to govern Gaza and help usher in funding for its reconstruction. This government also needs to be empowered to engage politically with Israel and the US to reach a permanent solution that can allow for the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

• Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. He is the author of “State of Palestine NOW: Practical and logical arguments for the best way to bring peace to the Middle East.” X: @daoudkuttab