By Athena Papakosta

When the Secretary of State of the United States, Anthony Blinkenasked who will rule the Gaza Strip after the devastating ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, he replied that it “makes sense” for the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

But as noted by foreign media and international news agencies, Mr. Blinken forgets that the Palestinian Authority has rejected this idea, especially if it is supported by Israel.

According to analysts, neither the United States nor Israel have a clear picture of the next day of war. So far, Israel has stressed that the goal remains the release of the hostages and the crushing of Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

According to Washington, Hamas should not rule the Gaza Strip again and, at the same time, excludes Israel from gaining control of the Palestinian enclave. After all, Israel itself has rejected such a scenario.

For Blinken himself, the return of the Palestinian Authority may take time and support from other countries in the region, but for its head, Mahmoud Abbas, it is not a solution, especially since there is no prospect of a long-term diplomatic prescription for the next day.

During their meeting in mid-October in Jordan, the unpopular – for years – in Gaza, Abbas reportedly stressed to the American Secretary of State that he “will not return with Israeli tanks” to the Gaza Strip, making his position more than clear.

At the same time, experts point out that even if Mahmoud Abbas wanted something like this, he would not be able to govern Gaza since for its residents the Palestinian Authority seems incapable of providing the basic services or even the necessary security to the Palestinian people.

From the next day’s equation, one cannot remove the fact that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has himself, in the past, opposed Palestinian independence. And yes, after the horrific attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7th it is very hard to believe that he could now consent to any land concessions.

The prevailing idea in Israel seems to be the creation of a neutral zone in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave which will keep the Palestinian people away from the southern borders of the country.

But the USA is knocking on the door again, bringing back the previously forgotten political solution of the two states. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking to the French newspaper Le Monde, in turn reiterated the need for a political horizon for the Palestinian people based on the two-state solution “in the context of a broader vision of regional integration with the key Arab countries’.

The President of the USA himself, Joe Biden, has preceded us, who emphasized that “we cannot abandon the two-state solution”.

And a new chapter that digs even more into the open wound of the Palestinian opens again with the same questions about the solution such as the border and/or the one for Jerusalem remaining unanswered and the same obstacles to achieving it seem insurmountable.