Palestinian Authority not going ‘to Gaza on an Israeli military tank,’ PM says

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• Geoff Bennett:

  A major player in Palestinian life is largely sidelined in this latest and bloodiest conflict, the Palestinian Authority.

  Since it was evicted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007, the P.A. has governed the parts of the West Bank it controls.

  Leila Molana-Allen sat down with the Palestinian Authority prime minister for a rare interview, and asked him about the state of the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

• Mohammad Shtayyeh, Palestinian Prime Minister:

  Israel is launching a comprehensive war against the Palestinian people. This war is not against Hamas. This war is against children, women, university professors, priests, chefs, you name it.

  Look at the list of Palestinians who have been killed. They have names. They have their mothers. They have fathers. They have dreams. There are more than 1,000 Palestinians who are under the rubble. In Gaza, we don't have the equipment. We don't have the bulldozers to remove the rubble at this stage.

  So it is a catastrophic situation. And the Israelis are the occupiers. So, when people speak about self-defense, a self — an occupier is not in a self-defense situation. An occupier is an attacker, an aggressor.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  The Hamas leadership is sitting there saying there will be a second and a third and a fourth October 7. How could Israel possibly step back and say, OK, we're going to lighten off on the invasion?

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  I don't see things that way.

  I see things in a totally different perspective. The Israeli intentions has never been to really reach an agreement with the Palestinians. So, the Palestinians are angry, frustrated. They don't anymore believe in what Israel claims, that it is ready for peace.

  Look what is happening today. This Israeli government is the most aggressive government in the history of the conflict. Some of them are thirsty for Palestinian blood, and they are calling for killing Palestinians.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  Prime Minister Netanyahu has been very clear that, after this war, Israel has no interest in governing Gaza again. They obviously are not willing to have Hamas in power in Gaza. What's your attitude to that, to going in and taking control of Gaza?

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  Palestinian Authority has never been away from Gaza. We have been providing electricity. We have been providing water. We have been providing education material. We pay the salaries for the teachers. We pay the salaries for the doctors.

  We have been in charge of every single day. We issue the passports for Gaza. So, our relationship with Gaza never stopped for the last 17 years. Now, we are not going to go to Gaza on an Israeli military tank.

  We are going to go to Gaza as part of a solution that deals with the question of Palestine, that deals with occupation. So, for Mr. Netanyahu to say that he doesn't want to interfere or control Gaza, he is already controlling the West Bank, and he is already — his army is in every village and every city and every refugee camp.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  We have seen in the last few weeks since this war began a huge escalation in violence in the West Bank. We're seeing daily raids into Palestinian towns, cities, camps by the Israeli Defense Forces, lots of young people dying, also a lot of violence with settlement communities as well.

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  The main goal for Israel to achieve is to kill every future possibility of a Palestinian independent sovereign state. That is the — what Netanyahu wants and that is what the Israeli government wants.

  So, the Israeli attack in the West Bank is in parallel with what has been happening in Gaza, i.e., putting Gaza under siege. Land in Palestine, like in any other where, is a zero sum game, is a zero sum game. Every single acre of land that the Israelis take is one acre of land that the Palestinians lose.

  That is what — the real suffering of people. You have 68 different checkpoints. They take our water. They use our skies. They kill our children; 5,200 Palestinians are in Israeli prison. That is why the cycle of violence will repeat itself every day, every week, every month. They need a solution.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  There's always a call for something. There's always a call for something to change, for an end to the occupation, for a future for a Palestinian state.

  The calls don't go anywhere. Whenever there's a U.N. resolution, people don't pay attention to them anymore. What practically do you want from your Arab partners, from your other partners, to make something happen?

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  You are right. Palestinians are really fed up with the statements, and Palestinians are fed up with United Nations resolutions, more than 800 United Nations resolutions. Not one single one has ever been implemented.

  Now there is no room for more negotiations. We are sick of these negotiations. Palestinians, they want Israel to say that Israel is ready to end occupation that has occurred on the Palestinian territory and then put a time frame for ending this occupation.

  And I think United States should not continue to give Israel the greenest of the green light to continue its colonization, to continue its atrocities, to continuous its genocide against the Palestinian people.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  What should America's role be right now in this war and moving forward to any kind of peaceful solution after it ends?

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  The only country that has leverage over Israel is the United States. And I don't think that the United States is using that leverage.

  The United States has to come up with a solution, have to come up with an initiative. This American administration is the only administration that does not have a peace initiative. Secretary Blinken is here, but that is not enough. It just — it's not only when you have bloodshed, then the whole international community come to Palestine and try to calm the situation.

  And instead of us avoid another round of bloodshed, we need to end this conflict.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  In between the immediate pain and chaos of this war and the long-term political goals of a solution is the everyday lives of Palestinians living here.

  Gaza has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. In the West Bank, it's not that much better. And when Palestinian workers can work, it's by these very limited permits given by Israel. How can young Palestinians living every day cope in the meantime?

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  My main concern since I took office was to gradually disengage from this colonial dependency, create jobs for our people, rather than them working in Israel.

  Palestinians have the highest university graduates in the region. Illiteracy rate in Palestine is zero. Palestinians are successful entrepreneurs, very vibrant private sector. All what they need is not to wake up in the morning and be faced with a checkpoint that does not allow their goods to move from Hebron to Gaza or from Hebron to Jerusalem.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  The peace process has been stalled for nearly 20 years. Not much has developed.

  Everyone I speak to, the one thing they say is, out of this horror that's happening now, there has to be afterwards a solution, some progress. Where are we in terms of the possibilities for a peace plan, for a Palestinian state with the realities on the ground?

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  To be very realistic, things are extremely complicated, extremely difficult.

  We are facing a situation in which two-state solution is fading away. With this Israeli government, there is no solution. So we don't have a partner. Palestinians are eager. We are the party to benefit most from any serious peaceful negotiations. So, Israel has to face the following reality.

  To kill us, they are doing that. To deport us, they are trying to do that. The only thing that Israelis are not trying is to live with us. They are not trying that. And I think, for them, not for us, the only thing that Israel should try is to make peace with us.

• Leila Molana-Allen:

  Prime Minister Shtayyeh, thank you so much.

• Mohammad Shtayyeh:

  Thank you.