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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22152/palestinian-authority-trap-gaza
Gaza Demilitarization Must Come Before Reconstruction
(Gatestone Institute) Pierre Rehov - The Palestinian Authority is not a neutral Muslim-majority entity seeking peace. In the last decade, it has learned to speak the language of Western guilt. Countries in the West continue to fund it lavishly and are climbing over one another to recognize a fictitious, nonexistent "Palestinian State." The Palestinian Authority seeks managed instability: enough chaos to retain relevance, extract concessions, coax funding and insert itself as an unavoidable intermediary whenever crises erupt. Exporting this model into Gaza would be catastrophic. A culture built on incitement to violence, terrorism, and an ideological determination that Israel should not exist is fundamentally incompatible with long-term peace. The West has long ignored the ecosystem that has flourished in and around the Palestinian Authority: teaching hate and rewarding terror. The Palestinian Authority does not recognize Israel and most likely has no intention whatsoever of dismantling Hamas. The idea of involving the PA - or any ideologically hostile Muslim power such as Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan or Iran - in Gaza's post-war stabilization is not merely naive or simplistic. It is structurally dangerous. Any group that is unwilling or unable to dismantle Hamas - or its successor entities - does not neutralize the threat. It freezes it. Worse: it creates a protective buffer around it. Moreover, Israel would be expected to tolerate a hostile foreign security architecture on its border while remaining ultimately responsible for the consequences of its failure. Any future escalation - rocket fire, tunnel reconstruction, arms smuggling - would place Israel in an impossible position: to act militarily and be accused of attacking "the forces of peace" or refrain and absorb the threat. Any framework that excludes the decisive dismantling of Hamas's military and ideological infrastructure merely prolongs the conflict and favors the most radical actors. A clear red line is required that reconstruction comes only after demilitarization. Stability is the outcome of security, not a substitute for it. Legitimacy therefore cannot be granted to any actors whose strategic culture depends on permanent confrontation with Israel. The writer is a French reporter, novelist and documentary filmmaker.