Palestinian Authority refuses to administer Rafah crossing - report

[Beastly Boy]

The Palestinian Authority has refused to administer the Rafah crossing, according to a Palestinian official who spoke with Sky News Arabic.

The official added that the refusal came amid the United States' request for the PA to manage the crossing.

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-800991

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Small blurb in an Axios article

In the coming days and weeks, Israel wants Palestinians from Gaza who are not connected to Hamas to be involved in the control and distribution of aid entering the Strip from Egypt, the source said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-moves-to-capture-the-palestinian-side-of-rafah-border-crossing-sources-say/ar-BB1lV7zi?ocid=BingNewsSerp

The question I have is WHY wouldn't the Palestinian Authority want to administer the crossing?

Fear of Hamas retaliation? Anthony Blinken has personally overseen some of the relief . . . but if Hamas won't let it get to the people - than who can?

[Think. Again.]

3. I guess because netanyahu has scheduled to bomb the crap out of it?

[former9thward]

24. Where is the link that the crossing will be bombed?

Looking forward to it. And no, Rafah is not the crossing. The reason is the PA has no interest in peace or what happens in Gaza.

[Think. Again.]

27. or maybe they want to stay away from netanyahu's bombing.

[former9thward]

29. Or maybe they want never-ending war.

[Think. Again.]

31. Yeah, maybe that's it.

[LeftInTX]

20. I think it's PA versus Hamas retaliation.

Last edited Mon May 13, 2024, 02:07 PM - Edit history (4)

One sentence in the JP just isn't enough. It's war and things change on a dime. I can't find anything about it in the Times of Israel.

I found this, but it isn't a source I normally post from
Palestinian Authority rejects Israeli offer to control Rafah border crossing - report
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-palestinian-authority-rejects-israeli-offer-to-control-rafah-border-crossing

More concerning is:
Egypt is refusing to allow aid into Gaza
https://www.reuters.com/world/egypt-refuses-coordinate-with-israel-entry-aid-rafah-crossing-alqahera-news-2024-05-11/

ETA at 1:01 pm

Israel proposes Palestinian Authority unofficially operate Rafah crossing

Behind the scenes: Senior Israeli officials told Axios that it planned to try and bring in Palestinian elements unconnected to Hamas to manage the site within a few days of taking it over.

Last week, Bar and other Israeli officials proposed that Palestinian Authority personnel be integrated into operations for the Rafah crossing.
One of Israel's conditions was that personnel sent to the crossing would not act as members of the Palestinian Authority, but be defined as a local aid committee, senior Israeli, American and Palestinian officials told Axios.
Senior U.S. officials said that the Israeli condition infuriated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his advisers, who made it clear to the U.S. and Israel that they would not agree to operate in the Rafah crossing "undercover."

Between the lines: Senior U.S. and Israeli officials said that the Palestinian Authority demanded as part of the discussion that Israel's ultranationalist Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich release the Palestinian tax revenues that were withheld about 10 days ago.

The tax revenues are a critical part of the Palestinian Authority's budget and the freeze required the organization to slash workers salaries by 50%.
Smotrich froze the transfer of tax money on the grounds that the Palestinian Authority was pushing the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials.
A senior U.S. official said Palestinian Authority officials do not want to send workers to the Rafah crossing, only for it to be attacked by Hamas and they be killed.
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/13/israel-palestinian-authority-rafah-crossing

The whole thing seems hinky and i don't blame them for refusing.
I also know the info we get is a bit sketchy at times, with chunks missing from both sides...

[ShazzieB]

30. My money is on fear of Hamas.

The PA has probably been threatened with dire consequences if they agree to administer the crossing.

It's right in character for the gang of terrorists who use Palestinian women snd children as human shields.

Letting enough supplies get in to stop people from starving en masse might interfere with Hamas' efforts to make Israelis look like evil monsters, and that simply can't be allowed! /s

[question everything]

34. Yes

https://democraticunderground.com/100218946203

[JustAnotherGen]

47. Ugh NY Times but thank you

That link on DU has a lot of another "ugh" aka Twitter - but I wasn't aware of the oppression by Hamas of every who does not fall in line.

Thank you!

[The Magistrate]

2. Here's The Problem In a Nutshell, Sir

Whether it is still true after the present carnage, the go-to move in Palestinian politics has always been to strike the most intransigent posture possible regarding Israel. Providing beneficial leadership to the people is simply not done, and that does not yet, after nigh on a century of rallying to the bloody shirt, seem to be what is wanted by the people condemned to martyrdom by the 'hard men' they suffer rule by....

[cachukis]

4. Well put.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. You would think

That the Palestinians would want to manage and control their own course.

But I fear you are correct. They've learned nothing.

[sarisataka]

6. The PA is presumably the government of the Palestinian state

being sought in the UN. But if they are refusing to administer their own territory it must be questioned if they are ready to be a state.

Perhaps what is needed is a new UN Mandate similar to when the UK was responsible for the region until the creation of Israel. It could be assigned to a willing Arabic country who would administer the region and guide the PA until they are capable of acting as the government of Palestine.

[tritsofme]

7. It always seemed to make the most sense to just have Egypt and Jordan take back Gaza and the West Bank respectively.

[sarisataka]

8. Israel has tried, each country refused to take the land back

I don't think the UN can force them to accept their former territories.

[yagotme]

22. Egypt built a wall. Just like Israel.

I suspect for the same general reasons...

[pinkstarburst]

45. Egypt doesn't want Gaza

They don't want the Gazan refugees. They understand that there is no way to separate Gazan refugees from Hamas. There is deep support for Hamas entrenched in Gaza. If they were to accept that land, or even a few hundred thousand refugees, they would be importing Israel's terrorism problem. Same deal with Jordan and the West Bank. That's why neither of them will touch it.

[IbogaProject]

10. PA is only on west bank

Im not sure the PA has been in Gaza at all since 2007. So they wouldnt know anyone.

[sarisataka]

14. Hamas did kick them out to become the de facto government of Gaza

although many deny/refuse to accept that fact. However, the PA still claims authority over Gaza.

Also, the two-state solution includes Gaza as part of Palestine. There is very little support for a three-state solution. At some point the PA will have to step up and assume control/responsibility for Gaza.

[sanatanadharma]

9. Don't conflate the West Bank with Gaza

Don't conflate the West Bank with Gaza. The only thing common is the reality of a Palestinian People and their history there where they're long established, before and after Muhammad.

Why would the non-state called the West Bank want to take the responsibility for the non-state named Gaza now?

Is this is an argument for Palestinian people to have control over their own lands, borders, state, nation?
After recent history of enforced separation, it seems to be odd now to want Israel and Palestine 'authorities' to coordinate the Rafah crossing.
Of course, if this this first step to full Palestinian sovereignty and borders and all international rights of Nation-hood, then

[sarisataka]

15. Doesn't the desired Palestinian state include both West Bank and Gaza?

And the Palestinian Authority is the recognized government?

[Beastly Boy]

17. Far be it from me to conflate the West bank and Gaza.

Notwithstanding a number of erroneous statements in your post that do not affect the issue raised in the OP, West Bank and Gaza together are the territories that the UN recognizes as "Palestinian State". The governing body of this "Palestinian State" is the Palestinian Authority. Both US and Israel recognize the PA as the only legitimate governing body of Gaza. PA just refused to exercise the "authority" part of their name over the territory that is part of their state. It is equivalent to India refusing to exercise authority over Goa.

It is not the non-state called the West Bank that refused to administer the Rafa crossing. It is the legal authority over Rafah crossing that refused to administer the Rafa crossing when requested by the US to do so.

[Eko]

41. Does the PA have the authority to tell Israel to leave Rafah alone then?

And will Israel do it or does the PA only have authority when Israel and the US tells them they do and only for the things they allow them?

[David__77]

11. They may not wish to be a cleanup crew helping out Israeli PR when the racist Israeli PM denies Palestinian sovereignty.

[Happy Hoosier]

13. If they want to be the goverment of a sovereign Palestine...

... then they have to be willing to step into a bad situation and work to make it better.

If they are unwilling to do that, they are certainly not ready to be a government of a sovereign state.

Leaders lead. They don't hand-wring and pass the buck.

[Sympthsical]

16. So sticking it to Israel is preferred over assisting Palestinians and their future sovereignty.

This is my absolute surprisiest of faces.

Sometimes I suspect a free Palestine is going to involve a lot of dogs catching a lot of cars.

And I want a free Palestine. I want the dogs to catch the cars. Because once they're no longer running, their spots are going to get a hell of a lot more discernible.

Although with things like this, I can discern plenty enough even with the blur.

[Ace Rothstein]

23. The Palestinians care more about having a cause than a country.

[CincyDem]

26. That is the single most concise articulation of the issue I've heard in ages. Thank you for the truth on this one. N/t

[Beastly Boy]

18. Or they may not wish to be a cleanup crew for the hamas terrorists who created the Gaza clusterfuck in the first place

[AloeVera]

32. Yup. And witting or unwitting collaborators under IDF subjugation.

Helping to subject their own people, or participate in the byzantine inspection of aid trucks by the IDF. Because of course that would continue.

Maybe the PA learned something in the last few decades in the West Bank.

Also see post #25. There is always more to the story than a few selected snippets.

[Happy Hoosier]

12. Not surprising....

They don't want to take actual responsibility for ANYTHING.

But they DO want the UN to recognize them as a state.

[LeftInTX]

19. One sentence in the JP is not enough info. I can't find anything in the Time of Israel.

Here's another source with more info, but I normally don't post from these sites.

However, the PA conditioned its acceptance on Israel's commitment to a plan leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-palestinian-authority-rejects-israeli-offer-to-control-rafah-border-crossing

IMO: PA is in the West Bank and may be reluctant to enter Gaza??? Who controlled it before October 7?

This concerns me much more: Egypt is refusing to allow aid into Gaza.[/b]

Egypt refusing to coordinate with Israel on entry of aid in Rafah — state media

Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into Gaza from the Rafah Crossing due to Israel’s “unacceptable escalation,” Egypt’s state-affiliated Alqahera News satellite TV reported on Saturday, citing a senior official.

The official also said that Egypt held Israel responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip.

On May 7, Israeli forces seized the main border crossing at Rafah, closing a vital route for aid into the besieged enclave. Israel did so as it began operations against Hamas in the Rafah area, and as negotiations for a hostage deal and truce floundered.

The military says Hamas has used the crossing for terror purposes. It is widely believed arms and other banned items are smuggled into the Strip from Egypt.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-refusing-to-coordinate-with-israel-on-entry-of-aid-in-rafah-state-media/

[Beastly Boy]

21. Thanks for digging deeper.

It appears that many details of this development remain veiled, and that neither the PA nor the US nor Israel have control or influence over any of them.

[AloeVera]

25. The PA didn't refuse, it conditioned it.

It appears those conditions were not acceptable to Israel.

The Palestinian Authority has told Israel that it will not control the Rafah Crossing under Israeli military control, and will not accept control over parts of Gaza, an Arab source told Sky News Arabic.

Sky News Arabic also said that the US is the one pressuring Israel to reopen the Rafah Crossing and transfer control of it to the Palestinian Authority - which has rejected the proposal.

According to the source, Israel offered the Palestinian Authority to control the crossing prior to the end of the war, but the PA conditioned its agreement on Israel's acceptance of a plan which would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.

I have bolded the parts that might explain both why the offer was not agreeable to the PA and why Israel would not agree to those conditions.

It's good to have a fuller picture.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389863

[Beastly Boy]

28. I get the semantic differences between refusing and conditioning, but

when the context of a condition is to get something that hasn't been possible to negotiate for the past 60 years in exchange for administering the area PA is in charge of to begin with, how ridiculous is it to bring up semantics as an excuse?

[AloeVera]

33. It's never ridiculous to present the full facts.

Even when they don't fit your narrative.

Wouldn't want to be disingenuous, would we?

[Beastly Boy]

42. What part of my narrative do your facts not fit?

Let me remind you of my narrative, just for the record:

I get the semantic differences between refusing and conditioning, but
when the context of a condition is to get something that hasn't been possible to negotiate for the past 60 years in exchange for administering the area PA is in charge of to begin with, how ridiculous is it to bring up semantics as an excuse?

[iemanja]

36. It seems to me to be supremely ridiculous to post something that gives exactly zero information

You clearly prefer no information to some, which you call semantics.

[Beastly Boy]

37. I wish I could make sense of this

Sorry that I can find nothing in your post to respond to.

[iemanja]

35. What does that mean?

There are no details in the article. In fact, there is no article. Doesn't the Palestinian Authority operate in the West Bank?

[Beastly Boy]

38. The US must have no effing clue what they are asking for and who they are asking.

The official added that the refusal came amid the United States' request for the PA to manage the crossing.

I concur, this is not an article. It is a recently published material whose meaning does not appear to escape the overwhelming majority of respondents.

Editorials & Other Articles: About this forum

Statement of Purpose

Post excerpts from articles, blogs, and other recently-published material related to politics, issues, and current events.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=about&forum=1016

[NickB79]

39. The PA is *supposedly* the official government of all of Palestine

When the UN calls for recognizing Palestine, the PA is who they default to. And Gaza is supposed to be part of the state of Palestine, in addition to the West Bank where the PA holds power.

When the US objects to said recognition, they point to the impotence of the PA at governing and the strength of Hamas.

Which means that, at some point, any future 2-state solution will require the eradication of Hamas, either by Israel or the Palestinian people themselves.

[LeftInTX]

40. Here's an article: Israel proposes Palestinian Authority unofficially operate Rafah crossing[

State of play: The Israeli proposal came following the Rafah crossing's closure after Israeli forces captured its Palestinian side last Monday.

1. Since the closure, Egypt has suspended the transfer of aid trucks through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza. Egypt said it would resume allowing trucks to pass upon the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Rafah crossing.
2. The halting of aid trucks has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the amount of aid entering Gaza and further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis, especially in southern Gaza.
3. Israel's Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar told his Egyptian counterpart Abbas Kamel that Israel wants to reopen the Rafah crossing, but that Hamas returning to control the area is unacceptable, a source with knowledge of the call told Axios.
4. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Sunday that Israel is open to many solutions for the Rafah crossing except for a return of Hamas, an Israeli official said.

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/13/israel-palestinian-authority-rafah-crossing

Between the lines:
A senior U.S. official said Palestinian Authority officials do not want to send workers to the Rafah crossing, only for it to be attacked by Hamas and they be killed.

[iemanja]

43. Thank you.

[Xolodno]

44. Israel broke it, therefore they bought it.

Not surprised in the least that the PA walking away from this.

1. They would seem complicit with Israel. True or not, that will be how it looks.

2. Israel is unlikely to give them full control, its only for publicity. They've been burned by Bibi's government too many times to trust him.

3. This would put them in direct conflict with Hamas, essentially initiating a civil war. Problem is, although more popular than Hamas, they don't have the resources to fight a civil war due to conditions imposed on them. Nor can they trust Bibi to help them in that matter as he wants them all gone.

So in short, the best option is to not take the option. Bibi created this mess and he's going to have to suffer the repercussions of it. He only made this offer for political reasons. But being burned so many times by him, they see right through it.

[Beastly Boy]

46. It was the US that made the request.

The US also pressured Israel to transfer control of the Rafah crossing to PA.
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-palestinian-authority-rejects-israeli-offer-to-control-rafah-border-crossing

[Xolodno]

48. Which amounts to the same thing.

The PA has seen virtually ever promise, assurance, etc. broken. At this point, they need to see actions before they commit. It's one thing to ask them to take over the Rafah crossing, but arm and equip them is another topic, one Bibi won't accept. He's never forgave them or decided to move on, and so, more people die.

[Beastly Boy]

49. I am not sure what promises, assurances and committments the PA had seen broken.

I am assumung that the promises, etc. came fron either Israel or US.

Can you mention some of them so I know what you are talking about?

[Happy Hoosier]

50. So they don't actually want to participate in the solution

The PA should be looking for any opportunity to establish greater authority and demonstrate the ability to govern. They apparently aren’t ready to be a real government.

[Xolodno]

51. Would you trust Bibi? I sure as hell wouldn't.

Obama called him a liar.

The PA knows they don't have an honest broker with him. Hell, he's been telling Biden to basically fuck off. I know I wouldn't enter into any sort of contract if the other person has a well known reputation of screwing you over. Now if you are defending Bibi (lot of closet defenders here for him), then we got nothing further to say.