In a part of the world that has long defied peacemakers, they are questions that bring deep furrows to diplomats’ brows. If Israel clears Hamas from the Gaza Strip, what kind of government will replace it? Will it be accepted by the 2.5 million Gazans who live there – and who will be its muscle if Hamas strikes back?
The favoured candidate for the job in the United States and the United Nations is the Palestinian Authority, or PA, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Last week, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, said that a “hopefully reinvigorated” PA was “the best-case scenario”.
