An interim Palestinian committee will govern the Gaza Strip once a ceasefire is reached, Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said Monday.
Speaking alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty at the Rafah border crossing, Mustafa said the “Gaza Management Committee” will operate under the authority of the Palestinian government. “Gaza is an integral part of our state, and our government is the only executive body authorized to manage its affairs,” he added, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Mustafa stressed that Israel’s assault does not give any party, local or international, legitimacy to impose alternative governance on Gaza. He said the Palestinian Authority is working with Egypt to organize a reconstruction conference for the enclave “as soon as possible.”
The premier criticized Israel’s closure of the Rafah crossing for aid trucks, calling it “a message to the world that Israel is starving the Palestinian people to force their displacement.”
On Aug. 8, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved plans to gradually occupy Gaza, beginning with Gaza City and displacing nearly 1 million residents, followed by operations in central refugee camps. The military campaign has killed more than 61,900 Palestinians since October 2023, leaving the enclave on the verge of famine.
Israel faces international scrutiny, including ICC arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes, as well as a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
