Trump's Mandate: Who Needs Palestinians to Manage Their Lives in Gaza?

Israeli affairs expert Jackie Khoury said, "After seventy-eight years since the Nakba and the end of the British mandate, and after generations dreaming of self-determination and striving to achieve it, Palestinians today face a new American framework of governance—without any Palestinian representation."

Khoury added in an article published in Haaretz, translated by SadaNews, that President Donald Trump's announcement of the official establishment of the "Gaza Peace Council" is not merely a new diplomatic initiative, but a declaration with much deeper implications: a re-imposition of international, especially American, guardianship over the Palestinian people.

He continued, "After 78 years since the Nakba and the end of the British mandate, Palestinians find themselves once again living under a mandate—this time American, wrapped in a discourse of 'peace, reconstruction, and stability.'"

He emphasized that the council announced by Trump, along with the accompanying executive council and the executive authority of Gaza, does not include any Palestinian representatives—neither elected, nor appointed, nor even 'widely accepted.'

He stated, "These bodies will draw policies, prepare plans, and make fateful decisions. Even if some of these decisions are formally passed to a technocratic committee in Gaza, that is nothing more than a transmission of instructions. These members, although they are Palestinians from Gaza, have no real influence. They are executive employees, not decision-makers. Any attempt to deviate from the prescribed line from above may result in immediate replacement. This is how mandates work, and this is how a non-sovereign system operates."

He added, "In the halls of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, officials are trying to convey that things are proceeding as usual. President Mahmoud Abbas and his circle—led by his deputy Hussein al-Sheikh and intelligence chief Majid Faraj—point to consultations and communications with Tony Blair and Nikolai Mladenov."

He continued, "Last week, they even rushed to welcome the formation of the technocratic committee and praised Trump, despite their awareness that their influence is marginal. The process is occurring over their heads, without them, and the American president does not see them as real partners."