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UAE Gaza Proposal May be Rejected by Palestinians After Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has proposed a temporary international mission in the Gaza Strip to restore order and deal with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the territory.
Sputnik
UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy announced on July 25 that the country considers deploying a temporary international mission in Gaza, at the formal request of the Palestinian government.
"A credible, and independent new Prime Minister must lead this government, ensuring transparent operations aligned with the highest global standards," the UAE Foreign Ministry website says.
"This international mission will be responsible for efficiently responding to the humanitarian crisis the citizens in Gaza are facing, establishing law and order, laying the groundwork for governance, and paving the way to reunite Gaza and the West Bank under a single, legitimate Palestinian Authority (PA)," the ministry continued.
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The wording of the proposal is hinting at the eventual recognition of the State of Palestine, Hasan Unal, professor of political science and international relations at Ankara Baskent University, told Sputnik.
"If the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) were to ever adopt… a resolution [on the formation of an international mission] that would be tantamount to recognizing the State of Palestine because according to the UAE proposal UNSC should act in response to an official demand by the Palestinian State," suggested Unal.
The proposal followed reports that officials from Israel, the United States and the UAE held a secret meeting in Abu Dhabi on July 18 to discuss plans for post-war restoration of the strip. Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed (ABZ) reportedly hosted the meeting.
A day before the delegations met in Abu Dhabi, ABZ's special envoy Lana Nusseibeh outlined the UAE's vision in an op-ed for Financial Times.
According to Axios, the UAE wants to be part of the solution for the Gaza Strip which excludes Hamas as a political force in the Palestinian territories.
The media claims that the Emiratis are also skeptical about the performance of Palestinian National Authority's President Mahmoud Abbas and his new prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa.
The UAE is reportedly advocating other candidates for a new Palestinian government, including former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who is known as Abbas' critic.

"This proposal is not feasible on the ground," Dr Lorenzo Trombetta, Beirut-based scholar and analyst specialising on the Middle East, told Sputnik. "The recent China-mediated agreement between Fatah and Hamas paved the way to a joint, perhaps, event for future governance in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah."

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Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation: China Solidifies Role as Mideast Peace Broker
The rival Hamas and Fatah parties, as well as 12 other Palestinian groups, attended China-brokered talks in Beijing between July 21 and 23 and eventually signed the Beijing Declaration on "ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity" and forming a unity government in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Hamas and Fatah have been at odds since Hamas' legislative victory in the Gaza Strip in 2006 which led to political clashes and the subsequent expulsion of Fatah from the region in 2007.
A Hamas-Fatah reconciliation could be a sign that Palestinians are willing to determine their political future themselves while choosing China as an impartial broker, Ayman Yousef, a professor in political science and international relations at the Arab-American University in Palestine, told Sputnik earlier this week.
"The United Arab Emirates initiative that is backed by Israel and the US, unofficially, won't be accepted very well by local Palestinian leaders, families and clans in Gaza and in the West Bank," Trombetta stressed. "So it's premature to talk about what could be the daily basis, routine operations of this initiative. We are very far from the applicability and the doability of this mission."
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