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Palestinian president mmud abas is urging US President Joe Biden to intervene to stop the war in a televised statement on Saturday AB boss called on Biden to help stop what he called a humanitarian catastrophe and said the war must end immediately when the war does end what
Happens to the Gaza Strip who should take control earlier I spoke to nasar alkid he was the Palestinian authorities foreign minister from 2005 to hasn’t it sick he’s also the nephew of Yasser Arafat the PA’s first president Naser Alid thank you so much for joining
Us thank you pleasure I I want to start with some reports that we’re hearing uh over the past 24 hours that there may be a deal that would allow for a pause uh a small ceasefire I guess and the release of hostages um how significant would it
Be if if that were to happen do you think it will be very helpful if it happens and I hope that it does happen uh the release of some hostages SL prisoners will definitely improve the atmosphere and the humanitarian pose also will will provide some serious respite for the civilians there and
Hopefully we’ll take it from there to a better and and more concrete steps positive steps yeah yesterday the president of the Palestinian Authority mmud abas gave a televised address he asked that President Biden us his influence to stop Israel’s offensive in Gaza what what do you make of that
Address um in terms of him trying to influence the International Community I think he’s trying to communicate with President Biden after the peace Washington Washington Post piece came out I think that it’s a bit too late for him to do anything about about his situation now uh it’s it’s
More than late hour for him to go or at pleas to become honorary president as as some people are are suggesting and that of course applied to his inner circle as well do so do you you you seem to be of the view that the Palestinian Authority
Has no credibility or or that mmud Abbas has no credibility well the Palestinian Authority as it stands now represented by Mahmud Abbas and his inner C the people are who are in control have no credibility have lost the confidence of the Palestinian people and the confidence of the International
Community there is no doubt about that now we need the authority nevertheless it has the legitimacy it has the power to unify Gaza and the West Bank and it seems to me in light of this the only solution forward is to change to have some structural changes in the authority
And to have maybe new guards in place instead of abz and his group it does seem as though uh one of the things President Biden said in that oped you referenced was that there needed to be an authority He suggests a reformed Palestinian Authority that looks after
The West Bank and Gaza was it a failure of uh the Palestinian Authority to not be able to control Gaza to not take over more of that space given what has happened here yes there was obvious failure of the authority in terms of all kind of
Governments in in the West Bank as well and and obviously in the in Gaza Strip when it was removed from Gaza and never turned back and when it applies policies that even increase the suffering of the population yes in Gaza so there is no doubt that there was such a failure and
I think this is another reasons why we need uh to change we need a change of guard while keeping the authority and the positive aspect of its existence and and would you say that Hamas took advantage of the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza uh well Hamas as a political force
Of course would would apply all kind of tactics to serve its interest I mean there is no doubt about that and I think of course the suffering of the civilians is is part of the equation now however I think we we need to find a way to end the uh
Israeli uh assault Israeli uh I think criminal criminal uh bombings of of Gaza that seemed the most of the time to Target civilians and not to Target Hamas we need to end that and we need to find a way out of of this current situation including by maybe
Changing Hamas itself you you you know of course that Israel is saying saying that the reason it is bombing some of these targets uh is because Hamas uses them uh uh to to hide underneath in tunnels and uses some of its own civilians as human Shields that and that
That is why they have had to Target some of these things like hospitals and schools well according to international law even if all of the above is true does not exempt Israel from responsibility to adhere to the humanitarian international law so in all cases Israel is guilty and frankly the
International Community has to make something about the current suffering of the Palestinian civilian and has to stop this war but but you’re not suggesting that Israel did not have the right to respond to what happened on October 7th are you again I’m not going to get into this
Discussion because even if it does have the right to respond it should respond in accordance with International humanitarian law the principles of Distinction the principle of of proportionality the principle of good intent all of the above you know are are lacking in Israeli action let let me end
On a two-state solution and I know that seems very very far away for for many people right now but your your uncle the late yaser Arafat obviously made some inroads in that that’s why he won uh the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 what would it take now to get to a
Place where that conversation could even happen uh that a two-state solution would be on the table and and and could be a possible I argued in the past and I would repeat it now that the some of the results of this war will be new Israeli government Mr netanyahu’s gun a new
Palestinian leadership and a new Hamas when these three changes take place I think the door will be open for serious discussion about the political future and about the existence of the State of Palestine on 1967 borders the mutual recognition between the two states Israel and Palestine to each other and
Things like that practically it’s the same thing like the two- State solution but I hate the term given the fact that it’s linked to the failing peace process that continued for more than 20 years without achieving anything Naser Alid we’ll leave it there thank you so much
For your time sir pleasure thank you
Rosemary Barton speaks with former Palestinian Authority foreign minister Nasser al-Kidwa about who should take control of Gaza after the war, why the PA needs to be reformed and how to achieve a two-state solution.
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