"[Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] is considering declaring the Gaza Strip a rebel district soon," a senior Palestinian Authority official close to Abbas told Israel Hayom on Wednesday. This comes a decade after the brutal Hamas takeover of Gaza and the violent expulsion of dozens of Palestinian Authority officials and their families from the strip. The move, a "doomsday weapon" for Abbas to use against Hamas in the internal Palestinian conflict, according to the official, is aimed at pressuring Hamas to hand control of Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority Implementing the plan would mean immediately declaring a state of emergency throughout Gaza while simultaneously issuing emergency orders designating certain groups and movements as "rebels." In such an event, Hamas would be outlawed and all its assets -- including institutions, funds and bank accounts -- will be frozen. In addition, arrest warrants will be issued against the heads of the organization. Likewise, the Palestinian Authority will cease paying the salaries of public servants in Gaza, and will ask the U.N., the Arab League and various international bodies to discontinue international aid to Gaza. The Palestinian Authority would also petition the Palestinian Supreme Court, seeking to declare the Palestinian parliament illegal, thereby revoking lawmakers' diplomatic immunity, disbanding the government and paving the way for an interim government for as long as the state of emergency continues. The Palestinian official stressed that the assessment in Ramallah is that such a move would have far-reaching diplomatic implications, going beyond the internal Palestinian conflict. First and foremost, they believe this will pressure Israel, the U.S., Egypt, Jordan and others to kick start the stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. They believe that in an effort to prevent a military clash between Israel and Hamas, regional as well as international powers will become involved in both the Israeli-Palestinian and intra-Palestinian conflicts. According to the Palestinian official, security and political officials in Israel were recently briefed about Abbas' plans, and signaled that Israel did not support the action at this time. The Israelis would like to first exhaust all other avenues, under the auspices of regional and world powers, to resolve the Gaza crisis. An official in Abbas' office in Ramallah said that since this kind of action is unprecedented, it is yet unclear how it would be implemented practically, or whether or not it is even possible under Palestinian and international law. However, it is clear that Abbas has already fired the opening salvo as evidenced by cutting the wages of public servants in Gaza, freezing the salaries of a number of Palestinian parliament members representing Hamas and halting payments to Hamas terrorists freed in the 2011 Schalit prisoner exchange deal. The official said that a team of Palestinian Justice Ministry legal experts has been established to review how to implement the plan legally, both in terms of Palestinian law and international law.
Abbas mulls declaring Gaza a rebel district, PA official says
Hamas controls Gaza Strip since its brutal takeover 10 years ago • PA will declare state of emergency, freeze Hamas assets, issue arrest warrants for group's operatives • Israeli officials do not support move, as time is not right for such action.
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