PA leader appears poised to cut $96 million he sends to Strip, which will almost certainly plunge the coastal enclave into fighting

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives at the United Nations on September 25, 2018, in New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives at the United Nations on September 25, 2018, in New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP)

 

Hamas parliamentarians convened in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and announced in a dramatic statement that Mahmoud Abbas’s presidency was unlawful.

Arab media quoted the lawmakers as saying that the Palestinian Authority leader “no longer represents the Palestinian people.”

These are not surprising statements given the organizational affiliation of the speakers, as Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah party have long been at odds.

Nevertheless, the remarks also clarify Abbas’s complex political situation on the eve of his speech at the UN General Assembly.

It appears that Abbas has hit rock bottom, and it is doubtful he can make a comeback.

The PA president is suffering from an unprecedented dip in support in West Bank and Gaza public opinion polls and is blamed by Gazans for the Strip’s humanitarian decline. Israel is not ready to engage in any dialogue with him and at the same time expects him to accept responsibility for the Hamas-run coastal enclave.

As a result, it is possible that this will lead to a particularly radical UN speech by Abbas, which the PA leader has proven capable of giving.

A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot to throw stones during a protest on the Gaza-Israel border on September 24, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB)
A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot to throw stones during a protest on the Gaza-Israel border on September 24, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB)

 

In other words, he will attack those who have cornered him: the US, Israel, and probably Hamas.

He will accuse Israel of not honoring the Oslo Accords, and will announce that the Palestinians will be reexamining their agreements with the Jewish state.

But this is not the news.

The big question is whether he will make the dramatic decision to cease the PA’s transfer of funds to the Gaza Strip.

His associates have hinted at this more than once, signaling it could happen at the beginning of October. It is possible, of course, that such a decision is only a threat and could be postponed indefinitely. But if it is carried out, it could be fatal for Israel, not to mention for US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

A precarious situation in Gaza

The United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, warned Wednesday that Israel and Hamas are on the verge of a new war in Gaza.

A Palestinian official in the Strip told The Times of Israel this week that for the residents of the coastal enclave, a war between Israel and Hamas “is not a question of if, but when.”

US President Donald Trump (right) shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2018, at UN Headquarters (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Donald Trump (right) shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2018, at UN Headquarters (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

 

Almost every evening, thousands of Gazans gather for violent demonstrations, at the Erez crossing and elsewhere, as part of Hamas’s attempts to signal to Israel that it wants an economic solution to the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian efforts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah have not borne fruit at this stage, and the possibility of a long-term ceasefire with Israel has similarly appeared to have fallen off the agenda.

The economic situation has once again reached an unprecedented low, stoking fury among Gazans that is being directed against Israel, the PA, Hamas, and even Egypt.

And now one can only imagine what will happen if Abbas decides to cut the $96 million he has been sending to Gaza each month. The chances that the powder keg known as Gaza would subsequently explode range from high to very high.

And so, ironically, the American and Israeli leaders who have made Abbas irrelevant and demoralized are now dependent on the PA president’s wishes. If he places sanctions on the Gaza Strip, he might drag Israel and the Netanyahu government into a war he does not want.

On Wednesday, the American president said that he “likes the idea of two states.” Netanyahu, for his part, later told reporters he was fine with the Palestinians having the right to defend themselves, though not “the right to hurt us.”

Perhaps these statements by the US and Israeli leaders were an attempt to lure Abbas back to the negotiating table.

The problem is that they are too little, too late to prevent another war in Gaza.

As reported by The Times of Israel