{"id":4477,"date":"2024-10-28T14:54:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/former-uk-prime-minister-tony-blair-says-hamas-cannot-continue-to-govern-in-gaza\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T05:22:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T05:22:04","slug":"former-uk-prime-minister-tony-blair-says-hamas-cannot-continue-to-govern-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/former-uk-prime-minister-tony-blair-says-hamas-cannot-continue-to-govern-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair says Hamas cannot continue to govern in Gaza."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Hamas cannot continue to govern in Gaza and that Israel must allow for a new structure of governance to take shape in the territory.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a conference in London, Blair said: \u201cIt\u2019s been over a year since the October 7 assault on Israel by Hamas, which has left Israelis deeply scarred and traumatised, while the pursuant Israel-Hamas war has led to unprecedented Palestinian casualties, displacement and destruction in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Prime Minister made his comments in an address he delivered at Haaretz\u2019s newspaper London conference titled \u201cIsrael after October 7: Allied or Alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

As Israelis cope with the anguish of the hostages remaining in Gaza and threats from multiple fronts, Palestinians face \u201can enduring, intolerable situation of repeated displacement, an increasingly dire humanitarian situation and a mounting death toll with no horizon visible for a better future,\u201d Blair said.<\/p>\n

He added that what is needed are \u201cintensive diplomatic efforts to create the conditions that will bring the war to an end in a way that provides Israel with the security it needs, and Palestinians in Gaza with a different and better future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blair also said that his institute commissioned a poll across the Palestinian territories about the attitudes of Palestinians toward the war, toward the Palestinian leadership, as well as toward the future of Gaza.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cOur poll demonstrated that the population in Gaza is seeking a change with the agency to govern themselves, and when asked which entity they preferred to govern Gaza immediately after the war, only seven percent of Palestinians in Gaza said they wanted Hamas to carry on governing Gaza.
\u201cGazans\u2019 most popular choice was an administration made up of Gazan representatives that had international oversight and was linked to the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also found that respondents in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are in strong agreement that the Palestinian Authority requires reform, with 81 percent of West Bankers stating that moderate to deep reform is required,\u201d Blair continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what the poll highlighted is that Palestinians themselves are looking for a different future, and therefore it underlines the urgency of ending the conflict and establishing a new reality for Gaza, one which provides Israel with the security it needs, and Palestinians in Gaza with the ability to govern themselves effectively, and that is what we must all work towards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour MP Hamish Falconer, Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, opened his speech at the conference by recounting his experience as a hostage negotiator for British citizens abducted by the Taliban. He expressed empathy for the \u201cterrible horror\u201d faced by hostage families and added, \u201cThe U.K. will continue to make every effort to secure the release of the hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hamas-led attack on October 7, he said, was \u201cterrorism on a scale and brutality that few countries have ever experienced.\u201d He added that \u201cThe only way we can end this is through a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falconer also said that \u201cWe continue to support Israel\u2019s right to defend itself against Iranian aggression, but we need to avoid further regional escalation, and we urge all sides to show restraint.\u201d Iran should have its proxies stand down and \u201cshould not respond, and we will continue to work with allies to de-escalate the situation across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Falconer, the U.K. sanctions targeting Israeli settler organizations and individuals were \u201cbased on our absolute commitment to international law but also on our continued belief in a two-state solution,\u201d and a response to \u201cthe serious abuse of Palestinian human rights.\u201d The decision, he said, does not \u201cweaken our support for Israel defending itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called for additional humanitarian aid to Gaza as well as \u201cmore robust vetting procedures\u201d for UNWRA, amid reports that its members participated in atrocities of October 7. As winter approaches, Falconer said, Israel has a responsibility to ensure significantly more aid.<\/p>\n

While Hamas embeds itself among civilians in hospitals and schools, \u201cIsrael must do its utmost to protect the civilian population and take all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties,\u201d he said, adding that more aid needs to be brought in.<\/p>\n

After Yahya Sinwar\u2019s death, \u201cit is time for a new chapter in Gaza,\u201d Falconer continued. \u201cWe reiterate our call for the release of all hostages and immediate cease-fire and an increase in humanitarian aid.\u201d Moreover, as the situation in Lebanon deteriorates, \u201cwe cannot let Lebanon become another Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falconer added: \u201dThere is no place in our society for anyone who spreads hate. The government stands together against \u201cantisemitism, Islamophobia and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Haaretz conference was held in cooperation with JW3 \u2013 Jewish Community Centre London, New Israel Fund UK, Yachad, A Land for All, and Standing Together \u2013 groups largely dedicated to Israeli-Palestinian coexistence and a political solution to the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Hamas cannot continue to govern in Gaza and that Israel must allow for a new structure of governance to take shape in the territory. Speaking at a conference in London, Blair said: \u201cIt\u2019s been over a year since the October 7 assault on Israel by Hamas, which<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4479,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4477\/revisions\/4479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}