UAE in talks with US, Israel on provisional govt of post-war Gaza

The United Arab Emirates has discussed with Israel and the US about participating in a provisional administration of post-war Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge, according to people familiar with the talks.

The behind-the-scenes discussions, reported by Reuters for the first time, included the possibility of the UAE and the US, along with other nations, temporarily overseeing the governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza after the Israeli military withdraws and until a Palestinian administration is able to take over, a dozen foreign diplomats and Western officials told Reuters.

The UAE is a close security partner of the US and, unlike most Arab governments, has diplomatic ties with Israel.

The diplomats and officials said this provides the Gulf state with some leverage over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

After more than a year of war, Israel remains reluctant to outline its own vision for Gaza and the international community has struggled to formulate a viable plan, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the conversations were private.

The diplomats and officials stressed that the ideas that had emerged from the UAE talks lacked detail and had not been distilled into a formal, written plan, nor adopted by any government.

In the talks, Abu Dhabi is advocating a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem under an independent Palestinian state, the sources said - something that Israel has publicly opposed.

"The UAE will not participate in any plan that fails to include significant reform of the Palestinian Authority, its empowerment, and the establishment of a credible roadmap towards a Palestinian state," a UAE official told Reuters, in response to questions about the discussions.

"These elements - which are currently lacking - are essential for the success of any post-war Gaza plan."

The PA was established three decades ago under the 1993 to 1995 Oslo Accords, signed by Israel and Palestinians, and given limited authority over the West Bank and Gaza.