When the National Decision is on the Table, Fatah Returns to Square One

Fatah is returning today to a battle that seems old in its title, but is new in its circumstances: the battle for an independent Palestinian national decision. The scene is no longer just an internal Palestinian struggle over who manages Gaza, but has become a struggle over who has the right to determine the future of the Palestinian people, amid international and regional interventions, and discussions about transitional arrangements, international management, reconstruction, and conditional funding, against the backdrop of a declining Palestinian ability to impose its unified vision. The problem is not in international or Arab support, as the Palestinian people need this support, especially in the reconstruction of Gaza. The problem begins when assistance turns into influence, funding into guardianship, and temporary arrangements into a permanent political reality. The Palestinian vacuum does not remain a vacuum; if Palestinians fail to agree on a national formula for managing the next phase, others will come to fill the void according to their interests. Here, the danger of political money emerges; it does not only fund projects but can also create influence, alliances, and fronts, and affect priorities and decisions. Therefore, the principle must be clear: international assistance for rebuilding Palestine is acceptable, but managing Palestine from abroad is not. However, defending the national decision does not exempt Fatah from its responsibilities. If the movement wants to restore its historical role, it must start by reforming its internal house, renewing its institutions, expanding participation, combating nepotism and corruption, and restoring the importance of bases, conferences, and elections. Conversely, opposition forces cannot make the overthrow of the authority or weakening Fatah a political program in itself. The real question that all forces must answer is: what is your governance project? Who manages security and crossings? How do you unify institutions? How is reconstruction managed? And how is legitimacy renewed through elections? Opposition that does not present a national alternative becomes part of the crisis, just as an authority that does not reform itself loses its ability to confront external alternatives. The more dangerous scenario is for Gaza to become a separate file from the West Bank, or for reconstruction to become an entry point for building a new political economy controlled by international, regional, and local networks. The reconstruction of Gaza is not just about cement and projects; it involves billions of dollars, contracts, crossings, energy, water, and institutions, and whoever controls the decision of reconstruction can influence the political decision. Therefore, reconstruction must be Palestinian in reference, transparent, subject to oversight, and directed to serve the people and build state institutions, not to create new centers of influence. The independent national decision does not belong solely to Fatah, but it is part of its legacy and historical responsibility. At the same time, the national project cannot belong to one faction over another. What is required today is to rebuild the Palestinian house on the basis of partnership, elections, and the unity of institutions, so that the PLO becomes a unifying political house, the authority an institution for all Palestinians, and elections the natural path to renew legitimacy. The real question then is not who will govern Gaza? But: will Palestinians govern their future, or will others govern Palestinians in the name of saving them? This is the battle that must take precedence over all factional calculations. Palestine does not need someone to manage its crisis on its behalf, but rather a national system capable of managing its future by itself. And from here, Fatah returns to square one, not to restore the past, but to reclaim the decision.