Israel seeks to have dismissed Fatah leader Mohamed Dahlan as governor of the Gaza Strip, a military analyst for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth wrote yesterday.

According to Alex Fishman Israel might go beyond having Dahlan in Gaza, and aim to have him replace Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. However, he insisted that Israel prefers to have two different Palestinian entities in Gaza and the West Bank.

Fishman said that such a plan is supported by the Arab countries, including Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, noting that Dahlan, who fled the coastal enclave nine years ago, is ready to go back.

Since the inclusion of Avigdor Lieberman in the Israeli government, Israeli officials renewed discussions regarding Dahlan’s return to Gaza.

Fishman noted that Saudi Arabia would never object to removing Hamas from Gaza.

Israel, Fishman said, would carry out the plan and would be happy to have someone in Gaza with whom it has conducted negotiations in the past.

Source: middleeastmonitor.com