The United States and Arab mediators between Israel and Hamas are trying to promote Mohammed Dahlan as the potential leader of the Gaza Strip after the war, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Dahlan has lived in Abu Dhabi for many years. But since the war began, the Wall Street Journal reported, Dahlan has been shuttling between the United Arab Emirates—a wealthy Gulf state that could help finance Gaza’s reconstruction and provide troops for an international stabilization force—and Egypt, whose borders with Gaza and Israel make it integral to the region’s future. Dahlan has advised leaders in both countries and benefited from their patronage.
Arab and Hamas sources say that Dahlan presented himself in recent talks between Hamas and Fatah as the person who might lead the effort to establish a new administration in Gaza. According to the report, Hamas recently expressed its approval of Dahlan’s leadership in the Gaza Strip, as a solution that would end the war.
Hamas prioritizes a comprehensive vision for post-war Gaza “based on national interest and national consensus” over opposition or support for specific individuals, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told the Wall Street Journal. “It is unacceptable for any party to be imposed from above,” he added.
Among the options currently on the table is for Dahlan to lead a 2,500-strong Palestinian security force, working in coordination with an international force, after Israel withdraws. The identities of the force’s personnel would be subject to scrutiny by Israel, the United States and Egypt, and they would have no clear loyalty to the Palestinian Authority. Sources who spoke to the newspaper said that private security companies could also play a role in security in the Gaza Strip.
Dahlan was born in Khan Younis in 1961. His family roots go back to a village near Netzarim. He grew up as a neighbor of the Rantisi family and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas founder who was killed by Israel in 2004. However, he is more closely associated with Fatah and served as the intelligence chief in the Gaza Strip from 1994 to 2002, leading the growing struggle against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Under his leadership, many of them were arrested, often without clear charges, and some died in custody.
A series of ups and downs in Dahlan’s life began in 2007, when he was forced to leave Gaza for Ramallah, due to the Hamas coup in the Gaza Strip. The then US President, George W. Bush, described him as “our man.” Some also believed that Dahlan was a key figure behind the peace plan presented by the Trump administration in 2019, which was called the “Deal of the Century.” His closeness to the Americans did not prevent him from fleeing Ramallah to the Emirates in 2011, after the Palestinian Authority accused him of financial corruption and conspiring against Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Perhaps good relations with Israeli officials and even with the Shin Bet also contributed to the process that led to the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
He is currently a businessman, and his fortune is estimated at more than $120 million. In 1997, he was allegedly transferring about 40% of the income from the Karni crossing near Gaza (about a million shekels a month) to his personal bank account. He is said to have bought a luxury home in Dubai for $600,000, and an apartment in a tower in the city for $1 million.
Dahlan responded to the report on his Facebook page, once again refusing to accept any security, government or administrative position in the Gaza Strip. “Time and time again, different scenarios about post-war arrangements are presented or leaked to the media,” Dahlan wrote. “I am here only for what we can do to help our people in Gaza. Stopping the war is our top priority, and we will not support any other option.”
This article was published in Globes, Israeli Business News – en.globes.co.il – on July 25, 2024.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.