Summer Said, Fatima AbdulKarim and Stephen Kalin
The question of who will govern Gaza has plagued efforts to end Israel’s nine-month war to destroy Hamas. Some U.S., Israeli and Arab officials are pushing to empower a former Palestinian security chief who himself once tried to crush the militant group, was later exiled from the West Bank and now lives in luxury in Abu Dhabi.
Some negotiators are increasingly drawn to Mohammed Dahlan as a temporary solution to a dilemma facing postwar Gaza: Putting someone in charge of security in the strip that Israel, Hamas and foreign powers such as the U.S. and Arab Gulf states all find palatable. The discussions are picking up speed as cease-fire mediators try to revive stalled talks. Negotiators were planning to convene in Doha, Qatar, this week but are now likely to meet next week.
Dahlan is a rare Palestinian leader who is independent of both Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, and the Palestinian Authority that runs parts of the West Bank, making him someone the Israeli government could potentially work with, said Israeli political analysts. And in Washington, where the George W. Bush administration saw him at the time as a future Palestinian president, some officials have privately touted him as a key player since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, sparking the war.
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