For the past two months, there has been a lot of talk about “the day after” in Gaza from the United States and other Western countries, who are backing Israel. They have been adamant that the Palestinian Authority (PA) should take over governance once the war is over, despite what the Palestinian people want. It’s worth noting that the current leadership of the PA lost the last democratic elections in 2006 and has been steadily losing popularity ever since.
A recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) revealed that an overwhelming 90 percent of respondents want PA President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, and 60 percent are in favor of dismantling the PA altogether.
Despite the lack of public trust in the PA, the US is still eager to support its takeover of Gaza, given its history of maintaining the status quo in favor of Israel. While the US may try to revamp the PA in order to solve its legitimacy problem, it’s unlikely that a new iteration would be sustainable.
One of the main reasons the US supports the PA is its anti-Hamas stance and willingness to conduct security coordination with Israel. Throughout the conflict, the PA has refrained from explicitly supporting Palestinian resistance, choosing instead to condemn attacks on civilians and rejecting the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland.
PA officials have also criticized Hamas, emphasizing the importance of peaceful resistance and condemning the armed resistance method, aligning with their own political and economic interests at the expense of the Palestinian national cause.

