US seeks to ‘revitalize’ Palestinian Authority amid Gaza conflict

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The United States is seeking to “revitalize” the Palestinian Authority amid an ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, White House envoy Philip Gordon met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Gordon emphasized the US administration’s "commitment to support the Palestinian people and their right to security, dignity, and self-determination,” the White House said in a statement.

The US envoy said Washington is committed “to the future establishment of a Palestinian state and made clear that the Palestinian people must have a hopeful political horizon.”

According to the statement, Gordon discussed with Palestinian officials the revitalization of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

“Gordon emphasized that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, that Hamas poses an unacceptable terrorist threat to the Israeli people, and that Hamas cannot control Gaza when the fighting ends,” the White House statement said.

The US envoy said that the Joe Biden administration is committed to accelerating planning on the day after when the Gaza war ends.

“He reiterated that a revitalized Palestinian Authority must have the capacity to govern both Gaza and the West Bank, and that Palestinian Authority Security Forces must be strengthened to eventually assume security responsibilities in Gaza,” the statement said.

Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after ousting Abbas’ forces following infighting.

Abbas, for his part, said the Gaza Strip “is an integral part of the Palestinian state, and the plans of the [Israeli] occupation authorities to separate, occupy, cut off, or isolate any part of the Gaza Strip are completely rejected and will not be implemented," according to the official Wafa news agency.

Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip Dec. 1 after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,000 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara