Arab Officials Hold 4-Way Meeting to Discuss Post-War Gaza - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Security officials from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority held a secret meeting in Riyadh 10 days ago to coordinate plans for the post-war future of the Gaza Strip, seeking to involve the Palestinian Authority in governing the enclave, Axios reported on Monday, citing sources in the know.

The meeting in Riyadh was hosted by Saudi Arabia's national security adviser, Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, joined by Palestinian general intelligence service chief Majed Faraj and his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts, the sources were cited as saying.

The Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian officials reportedly told Faraj that the Palestinian Authority needed reforms to revamp its political leadership. They also asked that if a new Palestinian government was created, its new prime minister should gain some of the powers that in recent years had been in the hands of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Axios reported.

The three officials also stressed the changes were necessary to bring the Palestinian Authority back to administering the Gaza Strip following the post-conflict transition period, one of the sources was quoted as saying.

The Saudi national security adviser expressed his country's readiness to work on normalization with Israel in return for Israeli steps towards establishing a Palestinian state, the news outlet reported.

The US and Israeli officials have been informed of the contents of the secret meeting by some of its participants, the sources added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously rejected the possibility of the Gaza Strip going under the control of the Palestinian Authority once hostilities end.

Netanyahu has on many occasions spoken against the two-state solution, which seeks to create an independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. On January 20, the Israeli prime minister took to social media to reiterate that his country would not "compromise on full security control" over all the territory west of the Jordan River, which he admitted was "contrary to a Palestinian state."

The United States and six Western allies announced this weekend they plan to cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees as mass hunger remains a growing concern in the besieged Gaza Strip.

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On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip while its fighters breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 26,400 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said.

On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.