Arab proposal for Gaza could see Hamas integrated into PLO, US tells Israel

Arab states are formulating a plan for post-war Gaza which could see Hamas integrated into the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the White House has informed Israel according to a media report on Saturday.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (Kan) said the US was holding talks with Arab states, which it did not name, regarding the day after the war, in parallel with Gaza ceasefire talks.

Washington informed Israel that the plan being drafted by Arab states "may include a clause stipulating the integration of the Hamas movement into the PLO," the source told Kan.

It added that "the Biden administration is pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold ministerial discussions on the issue."

White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, reportedly warned Netanyahu, during a meeting with him in Israel earlier this week that the US and Arab states will move forward with plans for post-war Gaza with or without him.

Netanyahu has vowed not to stop the devastating war on Gaza until Hamas is fully dismantled. Since 7 October, Israel’s unprecedented air and ground assault has killed close to 30,000 people, mostly civilians, with thousands more missing.

The US has voiced its support for Gaza and the occupied West Bank being governed under a united and "rejuvenated" Palestinian authority, something Netanyahu has also previously rejected.

The current authority, which governs the West Bank, is led by the Fatah movement, the dominant faction in the PLO.

A rivalry has existed between Hamas and Fatah since 2007, when Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip and expelled Fatah from the enclave. Several attempts to reconcile the two biggest Palestinian factions have failed.