Ramallah [Palestine], November 6: The Palestinian Authority (PA) could return to power in the Gaza Strip only if a "comprehensive political solution" is found to the Israel-Palestine conflict, according to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas on Sunday met with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on yet another tour of the region as Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza nears a month. "We will fully assume our responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the [occupied] West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip," Abbas was quoted as telling Blinken by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israel says Hamas can no longer be left in control of the besieged enclave after the group's October 7 attack that left about 1,400 Israelis dead - a sentiment backed by Washington. Hamas, considered a "terrorist" group by the US and the European Union, is a rival of Abbas's Fatah party. Hamas took over Gaza from the PA in 2007, after being blocked from exercising real power despite winning a parliamentary election the previous year. Israel fully withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but imposed a crippling blockade on the coastal territory after Hamas took power. (aGENCIES)
Source: Qatar Tribune
