PA President Abbas asks for Israeli permission to visit Gaza amid war with Hamas
The president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, has asked the Israeli government for permission to visit the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war with the terrorist militia Hamas.
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), formally made the request on behalf of Abbas in a letter to Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi.
The request was for Abbas to be permitted to enter Gaza through one of Israel’s border crossings. The PA government in Ramallah allegedly sent a copy of the letter to the Biden administration.
It is currently unclear whether Israel will grant Abbas permission to enter Gaza or when such a potential visit would take place.
The 88-year-old Abbas has not visited Gaza since 2007, when its political rival, Hamas, violently ousted his Fatah party from the coastal enclave.
Notably, Abbas did not seek entry into Gaza via the Egyptian Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, however, even there, he would need Israel's permission to enter as Israeli forces currently control the Rafah crossing on the Gazan side.
Abbas announced his intention to visit Gaza during a speech to Turkish lawmakers last week.
“I have decided to go to Gaza with other brothers from the Palestinian leadership,” Abbas stated while addressing the Turkish Parliament on Thursday. “I will do that, even if this would cost my life,” he added, followed by applause.
Since Hamas gained control of Gaza in 2007, the coastal enclave has been effectively politically separated from the Palestinian Authority government. However, Abbas vowed to extend PA’s rule to Gaza in his speech.
“Gaza is ours as a whole. We don’t accept any solution that would divide our territories,” Abbas said. “There cannot be a Palestinian state without Gaza. Our people will not surrender.”
Abbas has reportedly asked the United States and other countries to back his request to visit the Gaza Strip for the first time in 17 years.
“Hamas’s approval is also important,” a Fatah source said. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would ultimately have the final say on whether the PA leader will be allowed.
Abbas’ intention to visit Gaza is likely a message to the international community that the PA is prepared to reassume responsibility for Gaza and its over two million residents. The Biden administration has previously indicated that it eventually envisions a “reformed” PA to take over responsibility in Gaza after the war.
However, the current Israeli Netanyahu government has been opposed due to the PA’s continued hostility toward Israel, its systematic incitement against Israel and its controversial pay-to-slay policy that offers financial rewards to terrorists who murder Israelis.
In December, Netanyahu vowed that neither Hamas nor Fatah would be permitted to rule Gaza after the war.
“Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” the prime minister pledged. “After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism.”
Netanyahu has so far largely avoided discussing the political future of Gaza after the war but has indicated that he envisions the eventual establishment of a peaceful civilian administration in Gaza with no affiliation to terrorist organizations or entities that are hostile toward Israel.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
