Israel rules out Palestinian Authority role in post-war Gaza; Denmark jails two over embassy attack; IDF to replace Arabic-language spokesman
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Jerusalem that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority will not play any role in governing post-war Gaza, sharpening Israel’s position as international diplomatic tracks remain fluid.
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“The Prime Minister clarified that the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in administering the Strip in any way,” Netanyahu’s office said after the meeting. Israel has insisted that neither Hamas nor the PA should be part of Gaza’s administration once the war ends.
The stance comes as the technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) manages day-to-day affairs pending completion of a PA reform program, a structure created under U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan that ended a two-year war but left the PA’s post-war role unclear.
Netanyahu also “reiterated the uncompromising demand for the disarmament of Hamas, the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip, and the fulfilment of the war objectives prior to the reconstruction of the Strip,” his office said. Earlier this week, Netanyahu’s office objected to an NCAG logo it said contained a PA symbol, arguing it suggested a link between the two. “Israel will not accept the use of a Palestinian Authority symbol,” the statement said.
Responding on X, the NCAG said it “has been testing a range of visual concepts” and that its designs may evolve. Its focus, it added, “is humanitarian relief, civilian administration, recovery, and a livable future for Gaza.”
Witkoff’s meeting marked his second with Netanyahu in less than two weeks, following an earlier visit days before the Rafah crossing was reopened. Israeli media reported that Witkoff and fellow U.S. envoy Jared Kushner pressed for the reopening at the time.
Separately, the United States is expected to hold talks with Iran later this week. An Arab official told AFP the meeting was likely to take place in Turkey on Friday following interventions by Ankara, Egypt, Oman and Qatar.
In Copenhagen, a court sentenced two Swedish nationals to lengthy prison terms for throwing grenades at Israel’s embassy in Denmark in October 2024, in a case authorities labeled terrorism. An 18-year-old was sentenced to 12 years and a 21-year-old to 14 years.
“The two men threw the grenades with the intention of seriously frightening the Israeli and Danish populations — the attack therefore constitutes a terrorist act,” police said. The court found the pair, then aged 16 and 18, acted together with unidentified accomplices linked to a Swedish criminal network.
The younger defendant, who is also being prosecuted in Sweden for shooting at Israel’s embassy in Stockholm, admitted membership in the Foxtrot criminal network, which he said recruited him while he was in secondary school. Prosecutor Soren Harbo said the network acted as “the armed wing of a Middle Eastern terrorist organisation in Denmark,” with the embassy designated as the target.
The October 2 attack damaged the terrace of a house next to the embassy in Hellerup; no one was injured. Investigators said the younger man’s DNA was found on a grenade in the garden. Both were convicted of attempted murder against the occupants of the house but acquitted of endangering the soldiers guarding the embassy. They will be expelled to Sweden after serving their sentences. In May 2024, Swedish intelligence alleged Iran was recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs for “acts of violence” against Israel, a claim Tehran denied.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military will appoint Major Ella Waweya, the army’s highest-ranking Muslim woman, to replace its chief Arabic-language spokesman, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, a longtime public face of Israeli operations for audiences in Gaza and Lebanon, according to a military source.
Waweya, 36, was born in Qalansawe, an Arab city in central Israel, and volunteered for the army at 24. Known online as “Captain Ella” while serving as Adraee’s deputy, she will be promoted to lieutenant colonel, the source said. Around 20% of Israel’s population are Palestinians or their descendants who remained after the state’s creation in 1948.
Adraee became widely recognized through military social media videos detailing operations and issuing evacuation warnings, particularly after the start of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, and during exchanges with Hezbollah. Many in Lebanon receive his posts as alerts of impending Israeli strikes, while his colloquial Arabic and use of Quranic verses drew both attention and criticism.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
