Informed Palestinian sources confirmed that the US administration is pressuring Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form a new Palestinian government with broad powers and carry out radical reforms in the Authority, specifically in the field of security.

American demands to form a new Palestinian government

The sources confirmed that the American demands that were repeated yesterday, Wednesday, during the meeting of US Vice President’s National Security Advisor, Philip Gordon, with President Abbas, focused on forming a new Palestinian government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a program whose goals are specific to reforming the security sector, rebuilding, economic empowerment, and preparing for elections. The sources continued: “American officials assured President Abbas that they will not interfere in who will be chosen or the names proposed for this government.”

According to the sources, “President Abu Mazen’s response was clear that these are internal Palestinian matters, and that what is required of the American administration is to put pressure on Israel in order to stop the bloody war on the Gaza Strip, through a ceasefire and an end to displacement in the Gaza Strip.”

Abbas's meeting yesterday, Wednesday, with US envoy Philip Gordon, at the presidential headquarters in the city of Ramallah, was "tense and negative," according to Palestinian officials. The sources who spoke to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said, “The atmosphere of Gordon’s meeting is no less negative and tense than President Abbas’s meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last Thursday.”

He explained that "the meeting with Blinken was also tense, as he focused on what the Palestinian leadership is required to do in terms of reform in the field of security and freedoms, and touched on corruption and the need for reform, but he evaded the responsibility of the United States for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as it is the main supporter of the Israeli occupation state" which gave it political cover and military aid to continue the war on Gaza.” He continued: "Blinken was clear that the American administration cannot persuade Israel to stop the war."

During his meeting with Abbas, Blinken evaded US responsibility for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

According to the sources, “President Abu Mazen asked Blinken, if the American administration cannot pressure Israel to stop the war and massacres in the Gaza Strip, and also failed to convince the occupation government to transfer Palestinian funds from tax revenues (clearance) to the Palestinian Authority, Why can the American administration only put pressure on the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinians?

Revitalizing the Palestinian Authority

Last Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call from US Vice President Kamala Harris, in which she paved the way for the visit of her Vice President Gordon yesterday.

According to a statement issued by the White House, Gordon stressed, during his meetings in Ramallah, the American administration’s commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and their right to security, dignity, and self-determination. He stressed Washington's commitment to establishing a Palestinian state in the future, and explained that the Palestinian people must have a hopeful political horizon. “To this end, Gordon discussed revitalizing the Palestinian Authority,” according to the statement.

He added that Gordon stressed "that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, and poses an unacceptable terrorist threat to the Israeli people, and that Hamas cannot control Gaza when the fighting ends." Gordon stressed that the Biden administration "is committed to accelerating planning for the next day (of the war in Gaza), so that when the intense fighting phase ends, we can begin implementing these plans, with great support from the international community." He added, "The revitalized Palestinian Authority must have the ability to govern both Gaza and the West Bank, and that the Palestinian Authority's security forces must be strengthened to eventually assume security responsibilities in Gaza."