2024-01-29T13:25:09+00:00
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/ An American website revealed, on Monday, that a “secret” meeting was held in Saudi Arabia, which included national security officials from a number of Arab countries, to discuss the situation in Gaza after the war and grant the Palestinian Authority a greater role in the Strip. It also indicated that American and Israeli officials were informed of the details of the meeting.
The American website “Axios” said that “the meeting was held secretly 10 days ago in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to discuss the post-war phase in the Gaza Strip, and included the Saudi National Security Advisor, Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, the head of the Palestinian Intelligence Service, Majed Faraj, the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, and the head of the Jordanian Intelligence Service, Ahmed Hosni.”
Two sources said that American and Israeli officials were “briefed on the details of the meeting by some of the participants.”
The sources stated that the heads of the Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian security services informed Faraj that “the Palestinian Authority needs to carry out serious reforms that will enable it to revitalize its political leadership.”
One of the demands they made was that if a new Palestinian government is formed, “the new prime minister should be given some of the powers that were centralized in the last years of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.”
One of the sources said that the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians “stressed that these reforms are necessary so that the Palestinian Authority can return to taking over the reins of government in the Gaza Strip after a transitional period after the end of the war.”
The Saudi national security adviser said during the meeting, according to Axios, that “the Kingdom is still interested in moving forward with normalization with Israel, in exchange for practical and irrevocable steps from the other party, paving the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state, even if that does not happen immediately.”
The Saudi and Jordanian embassies in Washington declined to comment, while Palestinian and Egyptian officials did not respond to requests for comment, according to Axios.
The Biden administration is pressing the Palestinian Authority to make reforms so it can play a role in the Gaza Strip, while pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to agree to discuss a post-war plan for Gaza and how the Palestinian Authority could be part of a future government there.
The Washington Post revealed that the recent visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Israel revealed “differences” between the two allies “regarding Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians,” as the two sides expressed “opposing views on the timing of the return of Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip, and the Palestinians’ receipt of tax revenues collected by Israel.”