By Alexander Cornwell
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has discussed with Israel and the United States participating in a provisional administration of post-war Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge, according to people familiar with the talks.
The behind-the-scenes discussions, reported by Reuters for the first time, included the possibility of the UAE and the United States, along with other nations, temporarily overseeing the governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza after the Israeli military withdraws and until a Palestinian administration is able to take over, a dozen foreign diplomats and Western officials told Reuters.
The UAE is a close security partner of the U.S. and, unlike most Arab governments, has diplomatic ties with Israel. The diplomats and officials said this provides the Gulf state with some leverage over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
After more than a year of war, Israel remains reluctant to outline its own vision for Gaza and the international community has struggled to formulate a viable plan, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the conversations were private.
The diplomats and officials stressed the ideas that had emerged from the UAE talks lacked detail and had not been distilled into a formal, written plan nor adopted by any government.
In the behind-the-scenes talks, Abu Dhabi is advocating for a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem under an independent Palestinian state, the sources said – something that Israel has publicly opposed.
“The UAE will not participate in any plan that fails to include significant reform of the Palestinian Authority, its empowerment, and the establishment of a credible roadmap toward a Palestinian state,” a UAE official told Reuters, in response to questions about the discussions.
“These elements – which are currently lacking – are essential for the success of any post-Gaza plan.”
The PA was established three decades ago under the 1993-1995 Oslo Accords, signed by Israel and Palestinians, and given limited authority over the West Bank and Gaza. It still exercises some governance in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but was run out of Gaza in 2007 by Hamas after a brief civil war.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters there had been talks with several partners, including the UAE, on options for governance, security and reconstruction, and that various draft proposals, plans and ideas had been put forward by partners.
“These have been deliberative discussions that continue, as we seek the best way forward,” the spokesperson said, declining to comment further on “private diplomatic conversations”.
The Israeli prime minister’s office declined comment for this story. The Palestinian Authority did not respond to Reuters’ questions.
In addition to reforming the PA, four of the diplomats and Western officials said that Emirati officials had suggested the use of private military contractors as part of a post-war peacekeeping force in Gaza. The other sources confirmed they were briefed on what they described as Emirati post-war proposals, which included the possible use of such forces.
The diplomats and Western officials said any deployment of such contractors would spark concerns among Western nations. Private military contractors, hired by the United States and other governments, have faced accusations of torture, human rights abuses, and use of excessive force, among other allegations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The UAE official did not respond to questions about the use of military contractors.
RECONSTRUCTION WILL TAKE YEARS
Rebuilding Gaza, including its political institutions, is expected to take years and cost tens of billions of dollars, requiring substantial international support, following 15 months of Israel’s devastating military campaign.
While the UAE has criticised the conduct of Israel’s military and Netanyahu himself, Israel still wants the oil-rich nation involved in post-war Gaza, according to two former Israeli officials, who declined to be identified.
Like Israel, the Gulf state opposes Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that led the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.
Abu Dhabi views Hamas and other Islamist groups as destabilizing forces. UAE officials have also expressed concern publicly over the war’s impact on stability in the Middle East and on efforts towards greater regional integration and economic development.
Asked whether Hamas was aware of proposals discussed by the UAE, Basem Naim, one of the organization’s senior officials, told Reuters that after the war, Gaza must be “distinctly Palestinian” and without “foreign interventions”.
Washington is pushing, alongside mediators Egypt and Qatar, for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Israel and Hamas traded blame in late December for delays in reaching a ceasefire – which both sides had said appeared to be close last month. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington wanted to see a ceasefire deal concluded in the next two weeks.
When asked about the future of Gaza, Brian Hughes, a spokesman for Donald Trump’s transition team, said the U.S. president-elect – who is due to take office on Jan. 20 – would work in close coordination with Arab and Israeli partners “to ensure that Gaza can one day prosper”.
REFORM OF PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
The Gulf state has said it would only send troops to a post-war multinational mission at the invitation of the Palestinian Authority and with the involvement of the U.S.
Netanyahu, however, has said he is against the Palestinian Authority in its current form governing Gaza, citing his long-standing grievances over the PA’s school syllabus, which he says fuels hatred of Israel, and its policy of giving salaries to families of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
The UAE has called for a new prime minister to lead the Palestinian Authority, which Emirati officials frequently criticized as corrupt and inept during the closed-door talks, the diplomats and officials said, without providing specifics.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, who took office in March, has pledged to implement reforms within the Palestinian Authority whose finances have been in disarray for years as donor states have cut back funding until corruption and waste are tackled.
Emirati officials have mentioned former prime minister Salam Fayyad, a U.S.-educated former World Bank official, as the type of person who would be credible to lead a revamped Palestinian Authority, according to the diplomats and officials.
Fayyad served as prime minister from 2007 until resigning in 2013 after falling out with President Mahmoud Abbas, who remains in office. Reuters was unable to reach Fayyad for comment.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, additional reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi in Cairo, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah & James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Editing by Daniel Flynn)
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