US attempt to 'revitalize' Palestinian Authority risks making the PA less legitimate, more unpopular [View all]

Source: The Conversation

US attempt to ‘revitalize’ Palestinian Authority risks making the PA less legitimate, more unpopular

Published: March 11, 2024 3:32pm EDT

Dana El Kurd
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

Gaza is still very much in the midst of war, yet discussion is turning to “the day after” the conflict – and who will govern the war-ravaged territory.

The Biden administration has said that a full Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip would be unacceptable. Instead, White House officials have discussed “revitalizing” the Palestinian Authority, or PA, the governing apparatus of parts of the West Bank, to take over in Gaza.

Seemingly as an initial step to enable this, the PA cabinet resigned on Feb. 26, 2024. This begins the process of overhauling the authority and setting up a “technocratic government” tasked with basic, short-term governance objectives, presumably in Gaza as well as the West Bank.

But analysts and researchers have questioned what role the PA could have, given that the body has struggled with a legitimacy crisis for well over a decade. And Israel has refused to countenance any PA involvement in post-conflict Gaza.

Moreover, PA officials are wary of entering Gaza “on the back of an Israeli tank,” in the words of resigning Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.

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Read more: https://theconversation.com/us-attempt-to-revitalize-palestinian-authority-risks-making-the-pa-less-legitimate-more-unpopular-224690