Palestinian Authority ready to help Trump’s Gaza effort succeed, says official

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RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -The Palestinian Authority is ready to work with U.S. President Donald Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on their effort to consolidate the Gaza ceasefire and start rebuilding, a senior Palestinian official told Blair on Sunday.

Trump’s plan for ending the Gaza war holds out the prospect of the Palestinian Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and led by President Mahmoud Abbas, eventually taking control of Gaza, but only after it completes reforms. Abbas lost control of Gaza to the Hamas militant group in 2007.

Trump’s proposal says Hamas must end its rule of Gaza and foresees the territory being run by a Palestinian technocratic committee supervised by an international body chaired by him and including Blair.

Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said he had met Blair to discuss the day after in Gaza and making Trump’s plan for “stopping the Gaza war and establishing lasting peace in the region a success”.

“We have confirmed our readiness to work with President Trump, Mr. Blair and the partners to consolidate the ceasefire, the entry of aid, the release of hostages and prisoners, and then start with the recovery and reconstruction,” Sheikh wrote on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Gaza being run by the Palestinian Authority.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta; Writing by Tom Perry;Editing by Helen Popper)