US envoy: PA must take control of Gaza

The Palestinian Authority (PA) must resume its control over the besieged Gaza Strip, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace envoy said yesterday.

Speaking following a tour of the Gaza-Israel border Jason Greenblatt said: “It is clear that the Palestinian Authority needs to resume its role in the administration of Gaza, as Hamas has substantially harmed the people of Gaza and has failed to meet their most basic needs.”

Greenblatt said he had “learned a great deal” from the border tour, particularly concerning the “challenges” facing the Israeli army, Israeli civilians living near the border, and Palestinians living in Gaza. He attributed the difficulties faced by Palestinians in Gaza to “Hamas’ mismanagement of humanitarian aid and its commitment to terrorist violence.”

The Gaza Strip has suffered under a nearly 11-year siege at the hands of Israel, with support from Egypt and the international community. Goods, food, aid, construction materials and other essentials have not been allowed into the Strip and people have been left unable to leave even to access medical care.

Read: 15 Gazans die after Israel denies them treatment

Due to the ban on the entry of fuel, Gaza’s sole electricity plant has been forced to shut down leaving civilians with only 4 hours of electricity a day; further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

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A report released by the UN last month raised concerns that the Strip is “de-developing” faster than anticipated, such that the 2020 deadline by which it was said that Gaza would be “unliveable” may have already arrived.

Greenblatt’s trip to the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel is part of Trump’s attempts at relaunching peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders that have remained stagnant for decades.