As Arab and international leaders gather on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss the future of Gaza and regional peace, one fact stands out: President Mahmoud Abbas was not invited until the last minute. His inclusion came only after pressure from a few regional allies who still pretend he represents the Palestinian people. That hesitation says everything — the world no longer sees Abbas as relevant to the Palestinian cause. His presence at the summit is not about leadership; it is about symbolism. It reflects the past, not the future.
If the world truly wants Gaza without Hamas, it must first have the West Bank without Abbas. Replacing the current Palestinian regime is essential to pave the way toward reconstruction and renewal. Real progress will also require a shift within Israel’s current coalition — but without new Palestinian leadership, no credible peace process can begin.
For two decades, Abbas’s rule has been defined by tyranny, corruption, and paralysis. His continued grip on power has destroyed Palestinian institutions, suffocated political life, and blocked any chance of democratic renewal. Progress in the lives of Palestinians — and in relations with Israel — will never come through fear, censorship, or dictatorship. We urgently need a moderate, transparent, and accountable Palestinian leadership grounded in democratic norms and national unity.
Transparency must replace the deception and evasion that define Abbas’s regime. A new democratic system must unleash Palestinian freedoms, not suppress them. Instead of the current policy of exclusion, arrest, torture, and intimidation, Palestinians must experience hope, justice, and inclusion. The political system must be built on institutions, not individuals; on justice, not fear; on accountability, not loyalty.
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A New Context for Peace
In recent months, President Donald Trump has re-emerged with a new peace initiative that seeks to build on his previous efforts to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab states. The message from Washington, Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi is clear: a new regional peace framework is possible — but only if Palestinians are represented by a leadership with legitimacy and public consent.
Trump’s envoys have been clear that any plan for Gaza’s reconstruction and Palestinian statehood must involve a credible Palestinian partner, not a discredited president clinging to power. The U.S. vision is being shaped around regional guarantees for Israeli security alongside international investment in Palestinian governance and economic revival. But no plan, whether American or Arab, can succeed without Palestinian elections that produce a government chosen by the people.
Palestinians have waited almost twenty years to cast their votes. Elections are not a luxury — they are the precondition for legitimacy. The international community should make this demand central to every peace framework. Without new leadership, reconstruction will be paralyzed, reforms impossible, and peace unsustainable.
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The Path Forward
The next Palestinian leadership must emerge through the ballot box — a leadership that can rebuild trust with Israelis through dialogue, educational reform, and cooperative security arrangements. It should oversee a transitional period that includes an Arab-led stabilization force in Gaza, tasked with ensuring security, preventing extremist resurgence, and allowing humanitarian and reconstruction efforts to proceed.
For this to succeed, the Arab world, the international community, and Israel must allow Palestinians to organize free and fair national elections within months, and must commit to respecting their outcome. Palestinians deserve leaders who answer to them — not to aging elites or foreign patrons.
The moment is now. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE are signaling readiness for a new regional architecture that balances Israeli security with Palestinian statehood. The Trump plan can play a constructive role — but only if it is anchored in Palestinian legitimacy and renewal, not imposed on a broken political structure.
It is time for Palestinians to have a leadership that truly represents them — younger, accountable, and democratic — and for Israelis to gain peace, security, and full integration in the Middle East. The end of the Abbas era is not just overdue; it is essential to the survival of the Palestinian national movement and to the possibility of peace itself.
© Samer Sinijlawi
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