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A senior Arab diplomat stated Wednesday that Israel’s refusal to let the Palestinian Authority 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 diplomat said that Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia had been more open to involvement and investment in the Gaza Strip.
However, they conditioned their involvement on a more prominent role for the PA, considering it essential that Ramallah gain a foothold in Gaza in order to reconnect the territory with the West Bank under a unified Palestinian leadership.
Israel has rejected any role for the PA in Gaza, likening the Ramallah-based body to Hamas and insisting that it undergo significant reforms.
The Arab diplomat said Arab countries also back reforming the PA and are chaperoning Ramallah through that process. However, he claimed that Israel’s demand for reform was “disingenuous” and a “guise” for Jerusalem to prevent a two-state solution.
According to the diplomat, 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.
Saudi Arabia will still 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 said that the appetite in Riyadh and Abu Dhab, 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 said. “Turkey and Qatar have few conditions for their involvement, as they want to maintain influence and demonstrate utility to the US.”
“It’s ironic to see how upset Netanyahu is about Turkey and Qatar when his policies brought us to this situation,” the Arab diplomat said.
Netanyahu has vocalized a rare disagreement with the Trump administration over the latter’s decision to include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and senior Qatari diplomat Ali Thawadi on the Gaza Executive Board, which will be playing a key role in the oversight of Gaza.
Israel is against allowing Turkey and Qatar to gain a foothold in Gaza, arguing that the countries are too close with Hamas. But the US views Ankara and Doha as critical guarantors of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, believing they were essential in finalizing an October ceasefire deal and that they will continue to be needed to ensure that Hamas falls in line.
Qatar also played a key role in Gaza before the war, sending tens of millions of dollars in aid each month at Israel’s behest. Critics said the funds effectively bolstered Hamas at the PA’s expense and allowed the Islamic group to direct more of its funds toward terror.
A US official told The Times of Israel that lack of enthusiasm from some countries in the region is subject to change and that those currently holding back on playing a more active role in Gaza will be more open to doing so once they see results on the ground.
But Washington faces an uphill battle, as much of its plans for Gaza hinge on Hamas agreeing to disarm and Israel agreeing to further withdraw further from the Strip — something neither side has showed eagerness to do.
While the Trump administration has had a mixed relationship with the PA, it was quick to welcome last week’s establishment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a committee of Palestinian technocrats that is tasked with replacing Hamas in running Gaza’s daily affairs.
Israel succeeded in preventing NCAG from being officially connected to the PA, but several of the technocratic committee’s members are former senior Palestinian Authority officials.
However, they will need civil servants and police officers in order to advance their work, and for now, Israel is barring those on the PA or Hamas’s payroll from being hired, a second Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel last week.
PA’s Mustafa: West Bank ‘is barely making it’
Also Wednesday, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa argued that Israeli measures against Ramallah were hampering efforts to institute long-demanded reforms.
He took particular issue with the withholding of over $4 billion in clearance revenues that Israel collects on Ramallah’s behalf and has not transferred any of — as required under the Oslo Accords — since May.
“As a result, our ability to govern, our ability to provide basic services to our people has been undermined,” Mustafa said, while clarifying that Ramallah is still committed to reforms demanded by the international community and is in the midst of implementing many such steps.
He proceeded to lament punitive Israeli measures on the Palestinian banking system, which have caused an ongoing liquidity crisis in the West Bank. This is on top of the ban on 200,000 Palestinian workers from continuing their employment in Israel and its settlements since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which has catapulted West Bank unemployment from 15% before the war to roughly 34%. Israel says it took the step due to security concerns.
Mustafa also pointed to the spike in IDF checkpoints — now roughly 1,000 throughout the West Bank, according to UN figures — that further complicates the Palestinian economy and livelihood, along with rampant settler violence and settlement growth. Israeli counter-terror operations in West Bank refugee camps have also displaced some 40,000 Palestinians, the UN has said.
“It’s very sad to see the West Bank get to the point where people are barely making it,” the PA prime minister continued. “The international effort on Gaza is very important and badly needed, but we also need equal attention to what’s happening in the West Bank.”
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