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Israeli opposition leader: Best option would be to return Gaza to PA after defeat of Hamas

19 October 2023 13:00 (UTC +04:00)

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the best solution for a post-Hamas Gaza Strip would be to return the coastal enclave to Palestinian Authority control, APA reports citing The Times of Israel.

“I think in the end the best thing is that the Palestinian Authority goes back into Gaza,” he says in response to a question at a media briefing in Tel Aviv.

“It’s not ideal, and if you ask me what the exit strategy should be, it should be helping the international community help [the Palestinian Authority take control,]” he adds.

Lapid says that: “This is the way things were before; the Palestinian Authority still has about 20,000 people working for them in Gaza, and a lot of the facilities and civil organizations there are run by them remotely.”

Promising that “we will not rest until Hamas is gone and there is a governmental vacuum there,” he clarifies that “we have a fight with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza.”