PA announces committee on taking over Gaza and drafting Palestinian constitution

The PA was previously the main governing force in Gaza until 2007, when it was ousted by Hamas in a bloody civil war following the terror group’s 2006 election victory.

Meanwhile, PA President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree for the committee to create a new constitution for a prospective Palestinian state covering both Gaza and the West Bank.

"President Abbas took this step in the context of preparations for holding general elections following the cessation of Israeli genocidal aggression on the Gaza Strip, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Strip, and after the State of Palestine assumes responsibility in the Strip in the process of transition to Palestinian statehood,” read a statement published by the PA-affiliated Wafa news agency.

The last general PA election was held on January 25, 2006, when Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Abbas, 89, was elected in January, 2005 and is still serving what was meant to have been a four-year term ending in 2009.

According to the Wafa report, the constitution-drafting committee is a step “intended to lay the foundations for the establishment of the State of Palestine and its institutions through preparing a draft constitution that enshrines the constitutional principles of a democratic system of governance based on the rule of law, the separation of powers, the respect for and protection of rights and public freedoms, and the peaceful alternation of power.”

However, Israel has previously said it would not accept either Hamas or the PA playing any role in the future governance of the Strip.

And there is domestic pressure from some senior MKs, including from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s own Likud party, to instead extend “sovereignty” over the West Bank – a move which would effectively amount to the annexation of the territory.

Just this week, eight Likud lawmakers sent a letter to Netanyahu calling such a policy “both a national imperative and a necessary response to growing international momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state”.

And, last month, the Knesset passed a non-binding motion calling for the imposition of Israeli rule.

Dan Illouz, one of the letter's signatories, said: “The moment to apply sovereignty is now. We have a stable right-wing government, a sympathetic American administration, and we are faced with a dangerous move by countries that are pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel.

“Every delay comes at a price—in security, legitimacy and our national future. This is the time to decide.”