Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday blasted the US and Israel for their proposals to reform the Palestinian Authority in the post-war era in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting in Ramallah, Shtayyeh said that the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority government derives from the people and the voting at the ballot box, and it strives to bring about an end to the war, the killings and the "invasions" in Gaza and Judea and Samaria and to put an end to the “occupation”.
He called on the international community and the UN to establish a temporary plan to end the “occupation” and to recognize the “state of Palestine” and the refugees' right of return.
Shtayyeh said that there are those who are talking about the renewal of the Palestinian Authority or its strengthening, and the Palestinian leadership supports the strengthening of the Authority so that it can operate in its territory, bring an end to the "terror" of the settlers and colonialism and hold elections in Jerusalem as well.
In this context, Shtayyeh clarified that the renewed Palestinian Authority that Israel and its allies want to create is not the authority as the Palestinian Arabs see it, since Israel wants an administrative security authority, while the Palestinian Arabs want a national authority that fights for the consolidation of the state on the ground on the way to independence and the end of the “occupation”.
Shtayyeh also said that Israel wants a Palestinian Authority that lives in coexistence with the occupation, while the Palestinian Arabs see Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and demand the exercise of the right of return.
In addition, he claimed, Israel wants a Palestinian Authority that will denounce the security prisoners and the “shaheeds”, while the Palestinian Arabs see them as the children of the Palestinian people and want a government responsible for the children of the shaheeds and the security prisoners, since they are the conscience of the Palestinian national movement.