Why Arab States Want PA to Lead Gaza Recovery

Arab nations are pushing for Israel and the U. S. to let the Palestinian Authority (PA), along with the UN's Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, handle Gaza's recovery after the recent conflict. They fear a political vacuum could cause more problems. Discussions about Gaza's future are set to start soon, but Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hasn't been interested in talking about it. Israel is also ending its cooperation with Unrwa, which could make it hard to distribute aid in Gaza. Many countries think Unrwa is the best choice to handle aid distribution. The outgoing U. S. administration finally shared its plan for Gaza's administration, but it was delayed and didn't please Arab states. The plan involves creating a temporary UN-led administration with Palestinians from Gaza and representatives from the PA. This group would run important services until the PA can fully take over. There'd also be a security force to keep things safe and prevent smuggling.

The PA's prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, doesn't like any temporary plans. He wants the PA to start running Gaza right away. Talks in Cairo didn't agree on who would run Gaza together. Arab diplomats think Hamas might step back if the PA leads, but they also know the PA isn't popular in the West Bank. Arab diplomats hope the new U. S. team will follow the main ideas of the outgoing plan. They want an interim security force to keep Palestinians and Israelis apart and prevent new attacks. Israel wants Gaza to be completely demilitarized and Hamas to be gone for good. Some in the U. S. don't want to support Unrwa because they think it's connected to Hamas. There's worry that Israel will stop all cooperation with Unrwa. Aid trucks are supposed to start entering Gaza soon, but some parts of Gaza are lawless. Some people think if other UN agencies won't take over Unrwa's work, they should lose U. S. funding. The UN fired some Unrwa staff because of Israeli claims.

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