Palestine’s President Abbas says ready to govern Gaza after ceasefire deal | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Palestinian president reiterates call for ‘an immediate ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal’ from besieged territory.

Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas has said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) was ready to assume “full responsibility” in post-war Gaza, in his first statement since a ceasefire deal was announced between Israel and Hamas.

“The Palestinian government, under president Abbas’ directives, has completed all preparations to assume full responsibility in Gaza,” a presidency statement said on Friday.

It would include the return of the displaced, providing basic services, crossings management and reconstruction of the war-torn territory.

The statement, published by the Palestinian Wafa news agency, also reiterated the call of Abbas’s government “of the necessity of an immediate ceasefire in and full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip”.

While Hamas has exercised full control in Gaza since 2007, the PA, dominated by the Fatah movement, runs the West Bank which has been occupied by the Israeli forces.

Currently, Israel has no definitive stance on post-war governance beyond rejecting any role for both Hamas and the PA.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly opposed Hamas or the PA ruling the Palestinian territory, describing either scenario as “a reward” for the October 7, 2023 attack.

However, outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that the PA should run the coastal territory.

Palestinian leaders across factions have long said that Gaza’s future is for them to decide, rejecting any outside interference.

On Friday, Palestine’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said government institutions were ready to step up their work and restore basic services in Gaza, while calling on the European Union (EU) to redeploy a monitoring mission to the Rafah border crossing and help facilitate the entry of aid.

“The Palestinian ministers have clear instructions on what to do from the moment the ceasefire begins. We have a 100-day plan for the day after,” Mustafa was quoted by the Belga News Agency as saying during his trip to Brussels.