Palestinian Authority tells US it is ready to confront Hamas for Gaza

WEB DESK: The Palestinian Authority has informed the US that it is willing to ‘clash’ with Hamas if needed to seize control of the Gaza Strip, during an engagement with US president Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy.

The proposition was laid before Steve Witkoff on Tuesday in Riyadh by a senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh who is being dubbed as Palestinian President Mohamaad Abbas’s successor, revealed Middle East Eye on Friday.

The dialogue between Witkoff and Sheikh was helmed by Saudi Arabia at PA’s request after Trump’s envoy refused to meet in Ramallah. The premise of PA’s plan is to have a committee looking over Gaza who majority constitute those from outside the area. Later on, Witkoff also headed to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he met in Gaza, thus becoming the first US official to visit the place in 15 years.

Although Saudi Arabia facilitated the meeting between both countries, it did not review the proposition prior to the presentation to Trump’s envoy.

The PA’s claim to the Trump administration that it is prepared to confront Hamas was dismissed as “delusional” by a senior US defense official, who told MEE that such an effort would require military support and potentially troops from other Arab states or private contractors. The PA, dominated by the secular Fatah party, has long been at odds with Hamas, that seized control of Gaza in 2007 after winning legislative elections and clashing with Fatah. Despite repeated reconciliation attempts, the divide between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Fatah-administered West Bank remains entrenched.

Hamas has recently bolstered its standing by showcasing its public support and military gung ho during high-profile prisoner exchanges, with its fighters moving freely in Gaza and orchestrating well-choreographed handovers in front of cheering crowds. These displays have intensified pressure on the PA, which is already widely viewed as corrupt and complicit with Israel by Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel’s stated war aim of eliminating Hamas has further complicated the PA’s position, forcing it into a desperate bid to avoid irrelevance since Trump’s return to the White House. Since early December, the PA has targeted Palestinian resistance fighters in the Jenin refugee camp, a move described by Tahani Mustafa, the International Crisis Group’s senior Palestine analyst, as a “suicide mission” and a last-ditch effort to prove it can still project hard power.

PA fears losing its funding and political relevance if a new administration emerges in Gaza, shifting the center of political gravity away from the West Bank. The PA’s ageing leadership, central to the Biden administration’s post-war Gaza governance plan, has been largely ignored by Trump, who has shown little interest in Gaza, calling it “literally a demolition site.” Instead, Trump has suggested that Jordan and Egypt should accept Palestinians from Gaza, bluntly stating, “We just clean out that whole thing.” This stance, coupled with Hamas’s growing influence and the PA’s declining legitimacy, underscores the deepening crisis facing Palestinian leadership.