Israel, Egypt, UAE plan to appoint Dahlan as Palestine’s leader

Allegations claiming that Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to change the administration in Palestine have emerged.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said on Thursday that Israel, Egypt and the UAE plan on appointing Mohammed Dahlan as Gaza’s leader. Dahlan is an exiled Fatah official.

The plan also aims to replace the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas with Dahlan. Abbas and Dahlan have a long-standing feud.

Zvi Barel, who penned the piece in Haaretz, said it was “too early to assess whether this plan will be fully implemented.” Hamas is likely to reject Dahlan.

Barel believes if the plan is successful, Egypt would open the Rafah border crossing and the UAE could establish a power station on the Egyptian side of the border.

One of the objectives of bringing Dahlan into power is to neutralize the role of Qatar and Turkey in Gaza. Israel hopes to put a leader at the head of Palestine that it can control, as it believes Dahlan would be a partner to Israel.

Dahlan has close links to Egypt and Abu Dhabi, and has resided in the UAE since his exile in 2012. He is disliked among Palestinians.

Barel says if the plan holds up, the Israeli-Egyptian dream of a “state of Gaza” under Israel’s influence would come into fruition.