Qatar PM hopes Palestinian Authority will return to Gaza when war ends

The Prime Minister of Qatar stated that he hopes the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be able to resume its governing role in the Gaza Strip after Israel ends its war on Gaza. Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, following attacks by Hamas on southern Israel that, according to Al Jazeera’s count based on Israeli data, killed at least 1,139 people, most of whom were civilians.

According to the Palestinian health authorities, Israel’s 15-month-long intense assault on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 47,000 people and the destruction of much of the area’s civilian infrastructure. Israel has also severely restricted the flow of aid into the territory, leading to repeated warnings of a humanitarian crisis.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, made his remarks while speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. This came two days after a Qatar-mediated ceasefire in Gaza went into effect. The Prime Minister emphasized that the Palestinians in Gaza, not any other country, should determine how the territory is governed.

“We hope to see the Palestinian Authority return to Gaza. We hope to see a government that truly addresses the issues of the people there. The road to rebuilding Gaza will be a long one, the destruction is massive,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed also expressed Qatar's regret over the time wasted in negotiations between Israel and Hamas. “When we look back at what we achieved in the past few days, we really regret the time wasted in these negotiations,” he stated.

He further noted, “The framework agreement that we reached in December was only achieved a few days ago, and I'm referring to December 2023, meaning that we were just negotiating on the details for a year.” He added that some of it was over “things that are meaningless compared to the people who are losing their lives.” The agreement between Israel and Hamas did not directly address the issue of post-war governance in Gaza, where Hamas was the de facto governing power before the war.

The ceasefire agreement, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, included a truce, an exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, and a significant increase in humanitarian aid. Israel has rejected any governing role for Hamas in Gaza, while also opposing rule by the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority is an entity established under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago and has limited governing powers in parts of the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority is dominated by the Fatah faction, founded by former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and faces opposition from its rival Hamas. Hamas won elections and drove the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza after a brief war in 2007.