While global leaders pressure Israel to explain its plans for Gaza after its war with Hamas ends, Palestinian leaders are doing their own planning for that day – and recent developments on that front should raise concerns about prospects for long-term peace between Israel and a future government in Gaza.

Such developments also should put to rest, once and for all, the notion that the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank and which ran Gaza years ago, is a “moderate” force that (after some reforms) can be trusted to govern Gaza after the war and to reject the participation by any terrorist groups.

Were the PA truly interested in permanent peace and the two-state solution with Israel, it would stand fully apart from Hamas – the Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood that slaughtered 1,200 Israelis in barbaric fashion on October 7 of last year, is holding about 100 hostages in deplorable conditions, vows more October 7-like attacks, and maintains its genocidal designs for Israel. It also would stand fully apart from other genocidal terrorist groups seeking to destroy Israel.

But, instead, the PA is cozying up to Hamas, embracing other terror groups in Gaza and elsewhere, and eulogizing terror leaders after their deaths.

Moving forward, U.S. and other global leaders need to see the PA as it is, not as they wish it to be. Otherwise, they risk accepting, if not encouraging, a governing structure for Gaza that will invariably lead to more war.

This month, PA President Mahmoud Abbas met in Doha with two sons of Ismail Haniyeh – the late head of Hamas’ political bureau and the successful target this past summer of a presumably Israeli strike – praising Haniyeh as a “martyr,” noting his “virtues,” and offering condolences for his death. Abbas also held what Arab media called a “positive” meeting with senior Hamas officials, including a top aide to its current leader, Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind October 7.

In late September, Abbas also offered condolences after Israel successfully targeted Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, which shares the same genocidal designs for Israel as Hamas and which, since the October 7 attack, has fired more than 10,000 rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon. Also eulogizing Nasrallah was Fatah, the political party that dominates the PA, and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee – both of which Abbas also heads up.

Just days earlier, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told Al-Jazeera that “Hamas, the [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad, the PFLP [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine], [and] Fatah are all patriotic factions and we want them to speak in one voice for the interest of the Palestinian people.”

More ominously, leaders from Hamas and Fatah met in Cairo this month to continue their discussions about how to achieve a reconciliation between them and to discuss how to govern Gaza after the war.

At first blush, Hamas and Fatah seem far apart on Gaza. Fatah reportedly wants to create a governing body that the PA would oversee, while Hamas wants to retain control of Gaza and participate in any governing body.

But, the two entities may be inching towards one another. The Saudi daily Al-Sharq reports that Fatah is ready to include in a PA-run governing body “civilian and policing organizations” affiliated with Hamas.

Regarding that report, the Middle East Media Research Institute wrote, “It should be emphasized that the ‘civilian and policing bodies’ in the Gaza Strip are subordinate to Hamas and loyal to it; therefore, their inclusion in the governing body means that Hamas will continue to de facto control the Strip.

“Moreover,” MEMRI wrote, “Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, uses equipment of the Gaza police, and officials and operatives of Gaza's ‘civilian’ police have simultaneously belonged to the Al-Qassam Brigades, and have even led combat units engaged in operations against Israel.”

Thus, depending on how they evolve, the Hamas-Fatah talks could destroy hopes for peace by giving Hamas an official foothold in a new government, enabling it to rebuild and resume its attacks on the Jewish state.

None of the PA’s outreach to terror groups and praise for the “martyrs” who run them should surprise us. The notion that the creaky, corrupt, authoritarian PA is a moderate force for peace has always been, at best, a naïve delusion.

PA-run schools, summer camps, and children’s TV teach Palestinian children to hate Israel, and they encourage martyrdom in the service of terrorism. The PA also continues to pay monthly pensions to the families of “martyred” or imprisoned terrorists – the more Israelis killed, the higher the pensions.

As such, a post-war government for Gaza that’s run by the PA and includes remnants of Hamas would mock the memories of those lost in Israel on October 7, as well as those lost in Gaza due to the war.

About the Author: 

Lawrence J. Haas is a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and the author of, most recently, The Kennedys in the World: How Jack, Bobby, and Ted Remade America’s Empire.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.