Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shaheen on Friday called for empowering the Palestinian Authority to govern the Gaza Strip, saying the government is prepared to take over responsibilities and warning that continued marginalization would undermine any postwar arrangements.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference, Shaheen said the Palestinian leadership has long been planning for the "day after” in Gaza and is not starting from scratch.
"Yes, we’re ready,” she said in response to a question about timelines for taking over Gaza’s governance. "We’ve been thinking about the day after in Gaza for some time. We’ve had plans that were endorsed by the Arab League, the Muslim world and the international community at large.”
Shaheen said the key requirement is for the Palestinian government to be empowered to carry out its responsibilities, arguing that the current sidelining of the Palestinian Authority is "unsustainable.”
"Today, the Palestinian government is marginalized, and you cannot continue marginalizing a government,” she said, adding that developments in Gaza are inseparable from those in the West Bank.
