Egypt prepares Palestinians for Gaza governance

Egypt has spent months preparing Palestinian forces to assume security control in the Gaza Strip as part of its post-war governance strategy, according to security and diplomatic sources, Middle East Eye reported on August 12th.

This information was confirm by sources who informed Middle East Eye.

Training takes place in both Egypt and Jordan under a longstanding agreement dating back to the 1993 Palestinian Police Donors Conference in Oslo, when 14 donor states, the EU, the US, the World Bank, the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel endorsed a plan to train thousands of officers. Egypt and Jordan were the only Arab states to sign the memorandum.

Egypt has been deeply intertwined with the push for a ceasefire to end the Gaza war and is reportedly getting closer to present a draft to Hamas, despite reported tensions between Hamas and Egypt.

Likewise, it was reported in April that 300 Palestinian Authority personnel including police, national security, preventive security and intelligence officers, travelled to Cairo under Egypt’s reconstruction plan. An Egyptian security source said all were loyal to the Fatah movement and the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Mahmoud Abbas, and no one was affiliated with Palestinian leader Mohammed Dahlan, to avoid Ramallah’s objections and secure potential Saudi backing.

Jordan has also trained smaller groups, with both Amman and Cairo seeking Gulf funding to expand the effort. Since the Israeli assault began in October 2023, Egypt has focused on training Gazans, including those living in Egypt, alongside West Bank residents with Gazan roots, and people who fled the enclave.

The plan, unveiled at the Arab Summit, envisions a PA-led governance backed by international support, potential UN peacekeepers, and a political process addressing armed factions and Palestinian rights.

Gulf states have withheld funding, demanding Hamas disarm and withdraw before reconstruction. Furthermore, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has denied that Egypt has stalled aid into Gaza. In fact, Egypt has delivered several aid trucks into Gaza for needed humanitarian supplies.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty confirmed Cairo’s aim to prepare PA forces for law enforcement in Gaza and the West Bank to pave the way for renewed negotiations.

Egyptian security sources said Cairo initially opposed linking disarmament to ceasefire talks but shifted under Saudi and Emirati pressure, aligning with Israeli and US conditions for ending the war.

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org