"Peace Council".. Managing the War on Gaza to Prevent the Establishment of an Independent Palestinian State

In striking and dangerous statements, Tony Blair, a member of the executive committee of the so-called "Peace Council," recently announced that the Palestinian National Authority would have no role in administering the Gaza Strip, indicating that discussions would be held with Hamas regarding arrangements for the transfer of governance in the Strip. These statements coincided with Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of his intention to expand Israeli military control to include approximately 70% of the Gaza Strip, at a time when the aggression continues and maps revealing expected areas of control and division are constantly emerging.These developments cannot be read as isolated positions or statements, but rather as interconnected links in a comprehensive political and security project whose fundamental goals remain unchanged. The ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip is no longer merely a military war; it has become part of a process of reshaping Palestinian reality on foundations that completely contradict Palestinian national rights.The essence of this project is to continue the war of extermination and destruction in the Gaza Strip and create a repellent environment with the aim of pushing Palestinians towards forced migration, preventing the restoration of the unity of political, legal, and geographical jurisdiction of the occupied Palestinian land, and blocking any possibility of establishing an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions.The implementation of this project is not limited to what is happening in the Gaza Strip alone, but is integrated with parallel and accelerating policies in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem; while the war of extermination and destruction continues in Gaza, settlement operations and land confiscation are accelerating, and organized settler attacks under the protection of the occupation army are expanding, while calls and measures aimed at annexing large parts of the West Bank and imposing colonial realities on them are increasing.In this context, the occupation government continues its financial piracy policy by withholding clearance funds and seizing parts of them, exacerbating the financial crisis and undermining the ability of national institutions to carry out their duties. These policies collectively form part of a systematic attempt to weaken the Palestinian National Authority and undermine its political and administrative role, paving the way for imposing alternative arrangements that bypass Palestinian national rights and their legitimate institutions, and opening the way for reshaping the Palestinian reality to serve the occupation's long-term goals and plans.In this context, Blair's statements appear to be a clear revelation of the role assigned to the so-called "Peace Council." The council does not appear as an entity seeking to end the conflict or achieve a just peace, but rather as a political and administrative framework that works to manage the outcomes of the aggression and forcibly arrange the Palestinian scene in accordance with the Israeli and American vision. This is something we have repeatedly warned against since the announcement of the formation of this council and the presentation of its initiatives under humanitarian or developmental titles, while its true goals related to re-engineering the Palestinian political reality and bypassing the unified legitimate national representation of the Palestinian people.The most dangerous aspect of these proposals is that they seek to entrench the separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and transform Gaza into a separate and undefined political and administrative entity subject to special arrangements, which practically leads to the liquidation of the Palestinian national project based on the unity of land, people, and cause.In the face of these dangers, what is required from the Palestinians is no longer limited to reactions or condemnation statements, but rather seizing the national initiative by accelerating the departure from the squares of illusion; whether those who believe they can secure a seat through negotiation with the so-called Peace Council and its various formations, or those who overly bet that things will automatically fall into their hands after a while based on false and malicious promises that our people have experienced over many years.Leaving the squares of illusion and betting requires formulating a unified Palestinian position, whose basic pillar is ending the division and restoring national unity, activating the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and placing this entire file under its authority as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people, and given its international recognition and ability to invoke international legitimacy resolutions and the effects of international law. It also requires broad political and diplomatic action to expose these schemes to the international community, and to emphasize that the future of Gaza is a purely Palestinian matter, and that the Strip is an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967.What is happening today confirms that the battle is no longer just a battle to stop the aggression, but a battle to defend the unity of the Palestinian cause and prevent the imposition of realities aimed at liquidating the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people. Therefore, restoring the national initiative has become an urgent necessity that cannot be postponed, because the alternative is to allow others to draw the future of Palestine away from the will of its people and its established rights.