In the months since Israel began its annihilatory assault on Gaza, there has been extensive discussion in global policy circles about Palestinian governance on the elusive “day after.” For its part, the Israeli government has refused to entertain the idea of Palestinian self-government or statehood, with members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet instead pledging their full support for ethnic cleansing and re-settlement of the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, the Biden administration, until recently, has supported bringing the Palestinian Authority (PA) back into Gaza, even as PA officials warn that they cannot arrive “on the back of an Israeli tank.” The idea of multinational or Arab peacekeeping forces administering Gaza has also been floated, with almost no input from Palestinians. Meanwhile, Palestinians have been debating the role Hamas should play in future governance, with some insisting that Hamas cannot be sidestepped in any post-war coalition, others holding that Hamas should play no role, and yet others arguing that it is time to move beyond the PA–Hamas paradigm entirely, possibly reviving the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and creating space for more diverse Palestinian political perspectives. ….more
