Ramallah / PNN - Wasal Abu Alia 

Senior Palestinian officials have affirmed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is here to stay and will transform into the State of Palestine, regardless of Israel's acceptance. They emphasized that Israeli measures and plans to undermine the PA will fail, just as their attempts to weaken the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and its leadership have failed over the years.

In this context, a high-ranking political and security source stated that the PA will continue its path to dismantle the occupation, relying on the resilience of the Palestinian people and the national struggle led by Fatah and other national factions. The source noted that Israel’s increased pressure on the PA and its leadership is an attempt to subdue them, but the leadership remains steadfast, as the Palestinian people believe in their national rights and will not yield to Israeli and American-backed pressures, especially in the face of apparent Arab silence.

The senior political and security sources also confirmed that the leadership continues its political struggle, achieving successes through United Nations resolutions, the International Criminal Court, and the recognition of the State of Palestine by European countries. They stated that the leadership is undeterred by Israeli actions and threats, including financial piracy and land assaults.

In this regard, Dr. Wasel Abu Yusuf, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, stated that the Israeli government's war of extermination against Palestinians in Gaza and the settlers' violations and assaults in the West Bank are part of a comprehensive war aimed at displacing Palestinians and undermining the representation of the Palestinian people within the PLO. This is part of the broader strategy of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, which envisions a post-war scenario that separates Gaza from the West Bank and prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Speaking to Palestinian News Network (PNN) reporter in Ramallah, Abu Yusuf said Netanyahu is betting on the collapse of the PA by separating Gaza from the West Bank and discussing local, Arab, or international administration, all aimed at undermining the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. He explained that the seizure of Palestinian funds is not only extortion but also part of a strategy to weaken the PA, making it unable to meet its obligations, including paying salaries and providing education and healthcare. This strategy is consistent with the statements of Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who aims to tighten the noose around the PA to end its role.

Abu Yusuf added that these strategies are aimed at bringing back occupation and creating a new catastrophe for the Palestinian people, but this will not happen due to their steadfastness on their land.

Tayseer Nasrallah, a member of the Revolutionary Council of the Fatah movement, said that the occupation has a strategy based on three factors to undermine the PA: political, security, and economic. He noted that all actions by the Israeli authorities aim at the collapse of the PA, with the withholding of clearance funds being a deliberate act to disrupt salary payments, leading to problems within the PA.

Nasrallah told PNN reporter in Ramallah that the occupation's incursions into West Bank cities day and night aim to disrupt the PA's work and target its security institutions to destabilize security and order. This also seeks to erode trust between the PA and the citizens, ignoring existing agreements between the two sides.

Nasrallah emphasized that all these actions aim to weaken the PA and portray it as a burden on its people, while settlers, with the backing of the army, continue their violations against citizens. He highlighted that the most dangerous aspect is maintaining the division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip and ongoing attempts to undermine the PA, as the occupation knows that the PA’s project is to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and perpetuating division hinders this goal.

Political analyst and writer Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul noted that the current financial crisis faced by the PA government is indeed severe. However, he believes that the United States will not allow the financial collapse of the PA at this time due to Washington's strategic interests in the region.

Al-Ghoul did not rule out the possibility of this option being considered in the future, but he asserted that the Palestinian leadership would defend the national entity and state institutions, regardless of the difficulties and challenges they face.