Gaza Committee: Legitimacy Challenges and the Palestinian Vision

No one doubts the patriotism of the members of the technocrat committee "National Committee for Gaza Strip" or their courage in engaging in this committee amidst the challenges and dangers it faces. However, the establishment of this committee comes under the coercive circumstances of the "tyrant" need following the disaster that struck the Gaza Strip after the adventure of November 7, 2023. Acknowledgment of the need does not grant legitimacy to any entity, whether it receives a resolution from the United Nations Security Council or from the U.S. President, who has been granted the authority to control the "American guardianship" over the management of the Gaza Strip under Security Council Resolution 2803, or has received the blessing of both the Palestinian Authority or Hamas.

The sacred trinity of legitimacy "support, trust, and satisfaction" is not available by imposing facts on the ground; the existing authority in the Gaza Strip today is a reflection of a reality that lacks legitimacy. As much as it may hold potential importance in ending the humanitarian crisis following the disaster in the Gaza Strip, it also presents political risks to the future of the Palestinian cause and the national project that fundamentally aims at establishing a single Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In my opinion, addressing the implications of the current situation today; the parallel rule in the West Bank and Gaza, and testing the competence of the Palestinian Authority "the renewed authority" according to the Security Council resolution and international and Arab pressures, requires the existence of a unified Palestinian vision based on: First: reconsidering the nature of the relationship between the West Bank and Gaza Strip in practice, not through media fabrications or statements that do not carry any actionable plans capable of ending the division or rather the existing separation, towards building temporary arrangements for the relationship between the West Bank and Gaza based on a deep understanding of the economic, social, and cultural differences and responding to the burdens arising from them, and a keen sensitivity to the requirements of establishing the anticipated Palestinian state that expresses the national project for Palestinians and ensures sustainable coexistence.

Second: Implementing the reform requirements imposed by Security Council Resolution 2803, after completing negotiations with international parties, with integrity and clarity by frankly addressing the Palestinian people with the required reform program of the Palestinian Authority and its institutions and figures so that social forces can participate in its implementation; to ensure a fair distribution of the burdens resulting, and to enhance national ownership of the reform process, strengthen the internal front in facing external pressures, and pass the competence test imposed on the Palestinian Authority by the United States and Israel.

Third: Building a national security strategy for Palestinians based on: determining Palestinian priorities and their political program represented by the establishment of a state for all Palestinians according to the Declaration of Independence issued by the Palestinian National Council in 1988, and identifying the means and tools of their struggle to exercise their right to self-determination and its manifestations, including reviewing the current political forces and their programs and means of engaging in the national building process, determining the nature of the relationship with regional forces and various international parties according to the interests, priorities, and capabilities of the Palestinian people, and a national reading of transformations in the rules of international relations.