Ex-ambassador Leila Shahid: Gaza ceasefire security force must have a Palestinian face

Palestinian politicians and policemen must retain a leading role, former envoy to Paris tells The National

Ex-Palestinian ambassador Leila Shahid, seen here in 2023, has expressed doubts over the ongoing peace talks to end the war in Gaza. Abaca Press/Alamy Live News

Gaza's postwar technocratic leaders should be chosen by referendum and not be imposed by foreign countries, ex-Palestinian ambassador Leila Shahid told The National in an interview as ceasefire talks intensified in Egypt.

Ms Shahid, the Palestine Liberation Organisation's first female diplomat, believes what is most important is for Palestinians to feel safe.

In the event of success in negotiations, Gaza must be patrolled by Palestinian, not foreign, security forces as has been the case in the West Bank for many years, Ms Shahid said. "I'm sure that the people of Gaza feel like me, that if they are happy and if they are reassured, they don't even need security system," she said.

A former ambassador to France (1993-2006) and to the European Union (2006-2014), Ms Shahid, 76, also warned that European countries may shy away from taking tougher measures on Israel if it has agreed a ceasefire after two years of fighting in Gaza.

Gaza ceasefire talks were held for the third day on Wednesday in Sharm El Sheikh. They were expected to be attended by Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkey's intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, and US President Donald Trump's special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

On the table is Mr Trump's peace plan, which was unveiled last week and says the enclave must be governed by a "transitional, apolitical committee". That apparatus would operate under the oversight of an international transitional body with Mr Trump and ex-British prime minister Tony Blair on the board.

A framework for governing the enclave reportedly envisages independent Palestinian figures will be engaged as interim administrators. Ms Shahid suggests there should be a Gazan role in choosing these officials.

"You have to give the choice to the Palestinian citizens [so] that they can choose – you must have a variety of people," Ms Shahid said. "A referendum can very well designate either a committee of like five or six, or one person if they want to decide on one person.

"These personalities can take over the leadership for a period of time that we can call interim period of time until we go back to a normal life."

Israeli and Hamas officials are set to meet for indirect talks at the International Conference Centre in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. AP Photo

Even the ceasefire talks lack full representation, Ms Shahid argued. She expressed scepticism about the continuing talks, notably due to the absence of a Palestinian delegation. "Hamas does not represent all the Palestinians," she said. Another worry for Palestinians is that key preoccupations, including the status of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, are absent from Mr Trump's peace plan. "It's not a peace plan," she said. "It's [a list of] 20 items that are the priorities of Mr Trump."

Ms Shahid said the US President's previously reported plans to transform Gaza into a so-called "riviera" overshadows the negotiations.

Today, there isn't one person that can be called the saviour, and I think that what we need is a group of people

Ex-Palestinian ambassador Leila Shahid

"We're not out to make business," she said. "We have to rebuild the Gaza Strip, and we have to liberate the West Bank, and we have to liberate East Jerusalem," she said, referring to territories occupied by Israel after the 1967 war.

After a final settlement with Israel is found, the politicians involved post-ceasefire should organise a system to choose a new leader. "We can have Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank elect a governing body. When things are going in the right direction, this body could elect a president," Ms Shahid said.

Complicating the picture is Israel's own politics. Elections are expected for next year, but a vote could happen sooner if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition collapses under the pressure of current peace negotiations. An opposition triumph that delivered a clear break with the Netanyahu era could be an opportunity for Palestinian statehood.

Ex-ambassador Leila Shahid, centre, was a close collaborator of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, left, seen here in 2002 in Ramallah. AFP

"My dream is that people in Israel will wake up, like when they refused the change in judicial structure," Ms Shahid said. "The first thing we need is a change government, and it might happen because [Israel's far-right ministers] might refuse completely what they decide [in Egypt]."

Day after

Talks on the post-ceasefire arrangements, a so-called "day after" process, are to take place in Paris on Thursday. Caretaker foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot invited counterparts from the EU, the UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Indonesia, Canada and Turkey.

The French-sponsored New York declaration on the implementation of a two-state solution, adopted last month by 142 states, calls for a stabilisation mission in postwar Gaza under the aegis of the UN. European, American and Arab diplomats are now discussing what shape this mission could take and which countries could send troops.

Ms Shahid was close to the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat and worked with him for almost 50 years in Beirut, Tunis, Gaza and Ramallah. She also worked with the incarcerated Marwan Barghouti, 66, often described as the "Palestinian Mandela." Mr Barghouti is a member of Hamas's rival group Fatah, which Ms Shahid left after Arafat's death in 2004, before subsequently departing from the PLO in 2015.

Mr Barghouti's name was circulating on Wednesday as Hamas reportedly requested his release as part of the Sharm El Sheikh talks. Ms Shahid described Mr Barghouti as "intelligent," "charismatic" and "full of integrity." His 22-year imprisonment has boosted his legitimacy on Palestinians streets, she said. "But today, there isn't one person that can be called the saviour, and I think that what we need is a group of people," she added.

Disappointment in President President Mahmoud Abbas has mounted as over four in five victims of the war have been revealed as civilians. Ms Shahid accused him of a lack of initiative ever since the October 7 attacks against Israel. "I've known President Abbas for over 40 years, and I even worked with him before he became president, but since this terrible, terrible onslaught ... he has disappointed me, and he has disappointed many of the people who work with him, because he has been very silent," she said.

Some 83% of Gazans killed in two years of war were reportedly civilians. AP Photo

Europeans hesitant

During her tenure in Brussels, Ms Shahid said she witnessed a number of European countries refusing to appear critical of Israel due to their anti-Semitic past during the Second World War.

As a result Palestinians were always advised to act with restraint, such as after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1996 when implementation was delayed and peace momentum was lost.

"They told us: "now that there is the Oslo agreement, why would you spoil all the atmosphere by resorting to sanctions in Geneva? Give a chance to give a chance to Ehud Barak. He is a good man. He's a Labour person. He wants to really solve the problem." And we saw what happened," she said, referring to the Oslo Accord's failure.

Portraits of leading member of the Fatah party Marwan Barghouti, left, and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on a section of Israel's separation wall near the Qalandiya checkpoint. AFP

There is now a chance that is changing, perhaps driven from the street, she said, pointing at recent mass protests in Italy in support of a flotilla of activists. "I've been involved in Palestine since I was 16 years old," Ms Shahid said. "I have never seen the size of these demonstrations in France, in England, in Spain, in Italy."

The recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by 11 countries, including France and the UK, has increased pressures on those that have yet to do it, such as Italy. While recognition is important to affirm Palestinian identity, she cautioned it can also come across as virtue signalling. What is needed is accompanying measures to pressure Israel into changing course, Ms Shahid said.

"I really think that for a number of countries, the recognition was a lip service as saying: we recognise Palestine, so now don't disturb us with the story of the Palestinians," Ms Shahid said. "Because unfortunately, all people don't have the same value in the in their eyes."

A real test will be if the EU's 27 member states can find the necessary majority to adopt measures tabled by the EU Commission to suspend preferential tariffs with Israel at a cost of €227 million a year.

The Commission also suggested sanctioning far-right cabinet ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, which would require unanimity.

The proposals come to a vote later this month.