Senior national security officials earlier in January, 10 days ago, from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) secretly met in Riyadh to coordinate plans for post-war in Gaza, three sources with knowledge of the meeting told Axios. The parties are said to have discussed the ways to include the PA governance.

As the report highlights, the meeting appears to be another indicator of increased coordination between Saudi Arabia and the PA since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

According to Axios, the Riyadh meeting was hosted by Saudi Arabia’s national security adviser Musaed bin Mohammed al-Aiban. Other participants reportedly included the chief of Palestinian general intelligence service Majed Faraj and his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts, the sources told Axios.

Two sources cited by the report said that Israeli and U.S. officials have been informed about the meeting and briefed about its content by the participants. The Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian security chiefs are said to have told Faraj the PA needs to carry out “serious reforms that would enable it to revitalize its political leadership,” the sources said.

Another request concerns the figure in power: “new prime minister will receive some of the authority that in recent years was centralized under Palestinian President Abbas.”

Saudi Arabia also reportedly indicated its intentions to advance the normalization process with Israel if Israeli government makes “practical and irrevocable steps” that would allow establishment of a Palestinian state.

The report comes as the world is waiting for the outcome of the Israel-Hamas negotiations regarding the potential two-month ceasefire and hostage deal.

If the military action prevails, there is more to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ground operation as reports suggest 80% of the Hamas tunnel network remains intact.

(Source: i24 News)