There are many signs that there will be significant developments during September for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in the Palestinian arena, especially during the UN General Assembly. It is expected that a formula will be adopted to resolve the conflict through Arab and international action, and it appears that Israel is fully briefed on the details and has given prior consent to the US, which will oversee its implementation. Palestinian political analysts said the US administration informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu they will meet with US President Donald Trump in a three-way summit in New York on the sidelines of General Assembly meetings. During the meeting, Trump will inform Netanyahu and Abbas of his initiative to resolve the conflict between the two sides with the participation of Arab countries interested in ending the conflict and publicly launching normalised relations with Israel, instead of growing relations in the dark. Informed sources said the US initiative is similar to Netanyahu's vision for a solution, named “economic peace”. The source said Washington and Arab countries will threaten and pressure the Palestinian leadership if it objects or rejects the US proposal. They add that the New York meeting will pave the way for Arab participation in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, meaning a “regional solution” that has been frequently discussed of late. During a visit to Tel Aviv this week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres asked Netanyahu to ease the siege on Gaza, allow more patients to be treated in Israeli hospitals and increase the amount of food supplies allowed into Gaza. According to Haaretz newspaper, Guterres asked both Israelis and Palestinians to ease sanctions against the Gaza Strip and improve harsh humanitarian conditions there. Netanyahu is expected to arrive in the US at the end of a tour of Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, and will give an address at the UN 19 September. He will then immediately return to Israel to celebrate the Jewish New Year on 20 September. Jawad Al-Hamad, director of the Middle East Studies Centre, believes the US administration is focused on three issues in reaching a settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. First, that negotiations continue so that Arab countries uphold agreements with Israel; second, for Arab countries that have normalised relations with Israel to maintain their political and diplomatic commitments and not withdraw under any circumstances, even when the occupation assaults Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem; third, launching a new track of negotiations based on the outcome of the Arab-Islamic-US summit that took place in Riyadh, or what is known as “the deal of the century”, so countries that avoid normalising relations with Israel in public can move forward. But this could take up to four years without the Palestinians accomplishing much. Talal Okal, writer and political analyst, believes the drive aims to continue wasting time and push Arab normalisation with Israel forward without offering anything to the Palestinians. Okal stated visits by Jared Kushner and his team over the past eight months did not present an American vision or specific ideas for the settlement process. According to him, normalisation is occurring within the framework of a regional solution and economic support that serves the occupation, which means the US is not interested in the Arab Israeli conflict and is trying to tether it to the status of Arab countries through normalisation. An Israeli newspaper reported that Kushner, Trump's envoy and son-in-law, asked Abbas to suspend diplomatic action against Israel for four months in return for a US commitment to propose orderly political plans to revive the peace process. It added that the US administration intends to draft a political plan that includes a timeline for negotiating all key issues. Meanwhile, the issue of relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem is once again a hot topic after The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the US and Israel are once again discussing this issue since Netanyahu spoke about it 31 August with Kushner in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu's office said the talks were “constructive and crucial”. Kushner was in Israel with US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell 23 August on a trip that included Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as an attempt by the administration to revive the peace process. As soon as Trump was sworn in, back in January, the White House declared that Washington wishes to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But then Trump signed an order deferring relocation for six months. Meanwhile, the Israeli government decided to allow Jewish Knesset members to invade Al-Aqsa Mosque, following the victory of Jerusalem residents at the end of July that forced occupation to reverse plans and remove security gates and security camera fixtures. Politicians focused on Jerusalem affairs described the move as “pouring fuel on the fire and fanning the flames.” Experts assert that Netanyahu's decision aims to restore his self-esteem after the affront he and his government received due to the Jerusalem victory. Analysts blame the occupation for the outcome of its provocative decisions in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Ahmed Al-Modallal, a leading figure in the Islamic Jihad, said that allowing radical Knesset members to stomp through Al-Aqsa Mosque targets the holy site and provokes Muslims. Al-Modallal believes Netanyahu is trying to create a new reality within Al-Aqsa compound by imposing a temporal and spatial divide. Hamas Spokesman Abdel-Latif Al-Qanu said the decision “will ignite the situation”. Meanwhile, Jamil Hamami, secretary of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, said the move aims to revert conditions back to boiling point and add fuel to the fire after the victory of Jerusalem residents. This all comes at a time of inter-Palestinian division despite positive steps by the PA in Ramallah towards conditions in Gaza, albeit they are not enough to end the suffering of Gaza residents. Sami Khater, member of Hamas's politburo, said – without elaborating – his group is also willing to move forward if Abbas rescinds punitive action against Gaza. Khater described as “positive” Abbas's recent reversal of a decision to force health and education civil servants into early retirement. The head of the consensus government, Rami Al-Hamadallah, said, “the government took the decision after President Abbas agreed to allow workers in the ministries of health and education who were retired in the Gaza Strip to return to work and continue service.” Last month, the government forced into retirement more than 6,000 civil servants in Gaza who are paid by the PA, most of whom work for the ministries of health and education. Khater reiterated Hamas's position regarding the committee it formed to manage the Gaza Strip: “Our position is clear since the beginning: the committee was formed to fill the vacuum once the consensus government conceded its duties and backtracked on Gaza.”
