Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has called on the Israeli authorities to allow the population crammed into the south of the Gaza Strip to return to their homes further north.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Shtayyeh issued a warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attempt to force Palestinians across the border into Egypt.
“I know, and we know, that it has been an Israeli programme to push people out of Gaza. We and the Egyptians have been working hard not to allow this to happen,” he said.
“Egypt is not going to allow anybody to cross the border,” Shtayyeh said. There have been reports in the international press that Egypt is constructing a reception camp on its side of the border to accommodate Palestinian refugees.
Shtayyeh also said that the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA), which is based in Ramallah in the West Bank, does not maintain contacts with Hamas, which has run the Gaza Strip since 2007.
He noted that various Palestinian groups, including Fatah and Hamas, are to meet in Moscow on Thursday at Russia’s invitation.
The PA prime minister described the situation following the October 7 attacks as a catastrophe for everyone, but noted that the history of Palestinian suffering had begin in 1948.
Shtayyeh said the PA government did not aim at killing civilians, and he called for the spiral of violence to be broken. The Palestinian issue had to be resolved, and now was the time to do this, he said.
David Turner is a globe-trotting journalist who brings a global perspective to our readers. With a commitment to shedding light on international events, he explores complex geopolitical issues, offering a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
