Source: Hamas to Cede Civilian Control of Gaza to Palestinian Authority

September 26, 2024

by: Einav Halabi ~ Ynetnews

Thursday, 26 September 2024 | Hamas may have just given up civilian control in the Gaza Strip. Almost a year after the October 7 massacre and the outbreak of war, a Hamas official told the Saudi network Al-Hadath on Thursday that the terrorist organization that controls Gaza has reached an agreement that would make the Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for the civil management of the Strip, and the crossings.

According to the same source, these will not be under the supervision of Hamas. The meeting between Fatah and Hamas leaders where this agreement is supposed to be signed is expected to take place next week.

On Wednesday, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said that this meeting is expected to take place in Cairo, noting that the Palestinian Authority [PA] will manage the Gaza Strip after the war with the participation of “everyone.”

The previous meetings between the Palestinian factions were held in China, and ended with the Beijing Declaration on July 23, in which it was agreed to reach “total national unity,” including all the forces within the Palestinian Liberation Order [PLO], and to form a temporary national consensus.

A senior official in the PA responded to the report and downplayed the possibility of an agreement. He told Ynet that “the PA manages civil affairs in the Gaza Strip anyway—education, health, the water and energy authority. For Hamas, this is a headache, so it will hand it over to the PA in order to continue to control security and military. Hamas understands that Israel will not give up control of the crossings from a security point of view, so it will let the PA face Israel. We will wait and see what happens at the meeting in Cairo, but there are not too many expectations for an agreement.”

Posted on September 26, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on September 26, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

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