Both Gaza International Transitional Authority (GITA) and the New York UN plan are clear precursors and pathbreakers to an eventual Palestinian state under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority (PA). GITA even includes a prototypical Arab administration in Gaza, the PEA (Palestinian Executive Authority). Netanyhau’s government will sabotage GITA precisely because it is clearly laying the grounds for a two-state solution.
GITA is not without precedent. It has been tried elsewhere. Both Kosovo and Timor-Leste are now sovereign states. Like many other polities, they are rife with corruption and misgovernance. But the temporary administrations there succeeded to create enough of a momentum and lay a sufficient foundation for secessionary statehood, which is what matters most to the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
GITA is time-limited, its jurisdiction well-demarcated, and it will work hand in hand with a nascent Palestinian government, the PEA. GITA is expressly set to help the PA reform itself and take over Gaza within 5 years.
Hamas has already announced multiple times that it is exiting the political scene in Gaza. Abbas, the head of the PA, has made a similar proclamation in his speech to the UN this week. He would have never dared to take on Hamas this way had he not secured the consent of the political leadership of Hamas. The problem is that the military wing of Hamas is autonomous and holds the politicians in contempt. They are likely to transmogrify into a guerilla organization Like the IRA or ETA.
GITA is above all, a pivot in Trump’s attitude towards Netanyahu and Israel. The MAGA base is rapidly becoming increasingly more anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic. Trump will now turn against Israel and tie its hands when it comes to settlements, the annexation of the West Bank, and the formation of a Palestinian State under the PA. Expect an ostentatious public fallout between the USA and Israel.
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