Feeling heat from Trump to ‘solve’ Gaza, Arab states lose patience with PA’s Abbas

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The leaders of eight Arab countries gathered for an emergency summit in Riyadh last week to round out a counterproposal to US President Donald Trump’s Gaza takeover plan at the top of the agenda.

Trump, for now, is standing by his controversial proposal to “clean out” the Gaza Strip’s entire population, though his aides have indicated the idea was largely aimed at spurring Arab allies to come up with their own plan for the post-war management of the enclave that removes Hamas from power.

While the Arab plan is still being finalized and no conclusions were reached in Riyadh, Arab leaders are in agreement that the Palestinian Authority must play a role in the effort, four diplomats briefed on the gathering told The Times of Israel.

There is also consensus on another matter — that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is not critical, and perhaps even counterproductive, to the effort.

Accordingly, Abbas was not invited to the Riyadh meeting, according to two Arab diplomats and two European diplomats.

And not for a lack of trying. Ramallah made quiet overtures for Abbas to attend, but enough of the participating leaders expressed pushback that Saudi Arabia withheld an invitation, the four diplomats said.

Friends no more?

As usual, the most fervent opponent to including Abbas was United Arab Emirates President Muhammed bin Zayed, said three of the diplomats.

Abu Dhabi has long sparred with the PA president, often referred to by his nom de guerre Abu Mazen, accusing him of corruption.

But this time, bin Zayed was joined by Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad. Doha hosts Hamas leaders and has been fuming over Abbas’s decision to shutter Al Jazeera operations in the West Bank to protest the Qatari-backed network’s coverage of the PA crackdown on terror groups, said the first Arab diplomat.

Not only did Egypt’s President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi also not come to Abbas’s defense, but he has refused requests by the PA president’s office for a one-on-one meeting, said the second Arab diplomat.

Cairo has been brokering talks between the PA and Hamas about establishing a temporary committee to govern Gaza after the war.

Ramallah wants control over the panel, fearing that if Gaza is managed separately from the West Bank, efforts to reunite the two territories under one governing body will be undermined.

For its part, Egypt wants the panel to be linked to the PA, but to retain independence and be run by technocrats approved by both the Authority and Hamas. Cairo argues that consensus support from Palestinian factions is essential to the panel’s legitimacy, and also fears that Ramallah is unprepared to take major responsibility for Gaza as its grip over the West Bank slips.

Moreover, Egypt feels that too direct of a link between the Strip’s interim administrative committee and the PA will make it more likely that Israel blocks its formation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of Hamas being replaced by the more moderate PA, often likening the two rival factions. The premier did, however, allow PA officials to assist in the operation of the recently reopened Rafah Crossing after pushing back on the idea for months.

Even Jordan’s King Abdullah, who is known as Abbas’s closest ally in the Arab world, did not advocate for the PA leader to attend the summit. The first Arab diplomat speaking to The Times of Israel said the Hashemite leader has privately expressed frustration over what he views as Abbas’s failure to quickly and adequately adapt to the changes taking place in both the region and Washington.

The Jordanian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Impossible to satisfy most of them anyway’

While the first European diplomat accepted some of the criticism against Abbas, the official argued that other Arab contentions against the PA leader were off the mark.

“There’s a lot of criticism about Abbas’s corruption coming from a group that isn’t all necessarily squeaky-clean or democratically elected,” said the diplomat.

“Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are all pulling Abu Mazen in different directions in terms of how they want the PA to run, as they each have different interests and are jockeying for influence,” the first EU diplomat continued.

“In the meantime, Abu Mazen is pleasing none of them, but it would’ve been impossible to satisfy most of them anyway.”

Nevertheless, the EU itself is not completely satisfied with Abbas. The diplomat said Abbas’s office did not coordinate his announcement earlier this month to reform the PA’s welfare system so that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, those wounded in clashes with Israel, and the families of slain attackers will receive stipends based on their financial status like all other Palestinians, ending the previous system that rewarded those who received higher prison sentences.

The EU, for years, pushed Abbas to end the PA’s so-called “pay-to-slay” system, and Ramallah hopes that Brussels will help bankroll the new welfare payments now that they are being regulated.

But Abbas’s decision to remove the welfare program from government control and instead create an independent body headed by one of his close allies — former PA social affairs minister Ahmad Majdalani — reduces the chances that the EU will be able to provide financial support for the program, the second European diplomat said.

“We would’ve explained this had we been kept better in the loop, but we learned about the decree in the media,” the official added.

Meanwhile, Ramallah’s ties with the Trump administration have been very limited, reflecting the extent of Washington’s interest in the increasingly fragile situation in the West Bank, where Palestinian armed groups remain undeterred by the PA and Israel, and IDF operations to quash them have flattened refugee camps to Gaza levels of destruction, the diplomat stated.

Arabs feeling backed into a corner

Nearly a week has passed since the Riyadh summit, and Abbas’s office has not publicized a single call from any of the Arab participants.

In the meantime, the regional leaders are gearing up for a more consequential summit in Cairo next week, where Egypt is expected to present the Arab plan for Gaza. Abbas is expected to be invited and attend this more public-facing gathering.

The first Arab diplomat said Arab leaders feel like they are in an impossible position, given the US demand that they “solve Gaza” by removing Hamas, even though Israel failed to do so after 15-plus months of war.

Stripping the terror group of its governing powers is seen as realistic, so long as its non-militant civil servants can be folded into the new system, the first Arab diplomat said.

Coaxing Hamas to give up its weapons is another story, and particularly “fantastical” absent a peace process that Israel continues to reject, the diplomat further said.

“The Arab leaders are really feeling the pressure from Washington, and for the first time, I see growing willingness to abandon Abu Mazen if [Arab leaders] think it’ll save them from the Trump administration,” said the second EU diplomat.

“Egypt and Jordan view the Trump plan is an existential threat, so if they have to offer something far-reaching, such as a completely different PA, they might do so.”

The diplomat clarified that such a move would come with massive risks, as the next Palestinian leader after Abbas might not be as committed to nonviolence as the nearly 90-year-old PA leader has been.

The diplomat argued that Abbas is aware of regional discontent and as a result, recently took the unforeseen step of forcing longtime ally Hussein al-Sheikh to resign from his post as PA civil affairs minister.

The move is aimed at demonstrating that Abbas recognizes he cannot continue to rely on the same small group of loyalists, the diplomat said. However, Sheikh will remain in the powerful post of Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee secretary-general, so it’s unclear whether his resignation amounts to a strategic shift by the PA leader, who also controls the PLO.