I found myself returning repeatedly to that phrase, and it raised a series of troubling questions. Could this really prove true? If so, how did matters reach such a point? Who bears responsibility? Can the approaching tide still be resisted? And how can it be confronted urgently, especially when only a few weeks remain before the Israeli elections?
If I were to identify responsibility for the current deterioration of the Palestinian situation, I would describe it as a collective responsibility, shared in varying degrees by Palestinian fragmentation, Israeli extremism, Arab weakness, American bias, and international paralysis. Yet whatever responsibility may lie with these various actors, the Palestinian side bears the primary burden. Palestinians are, after all, the owners of the cause, and their positions should provide the principal compass guiding the policies and roles of all other parties.
At the same time, I cannot overlook the damage inflicted on the Palestinian cause by Palestinian hands. This includes the division that has now entered its nineteenth year; the deliberate obstruction of reconciliation agreements painstakingly brokered by Egypt; and Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, whose negative consequences, in my personal assessment, have far outweighed whatever positive outcomes some believe it may have produced. I say this while fully respecting the principle of resistance and honoring the sacrifices of the martyrs. In these matters, responsibility rests with the Palestinian side itself, whether with factions, organizations pursuing particular agendas, or even certain official institutions.
A logical question therefore imposes itself: where is the comprehensive and updated Palestinian project that the owners of the cause can put forward in response to the various competing projects, agreements, and plans now on the table? How can such a Palestinian initiative compel the international community to move beyond declarations and adopt practical positions in support of the Palestinian cause, rather than confining itself to international resolutions that remain unenforced, however just they may be? In my view, reliance on international resolutions alone, important as they are, will not produce any real gains for the Palestinian cause, nor will it alter the realities currently being imposed on the ground.
Nor do I wish to be unduly harsh toward the Palestinian side. Israel’s extremist policies in the Palestinian territories must be acknowledged for what they are: policies that have neither ceased nor shown any indication that they will cease. Yet the corresponding question is whether it makes sense for Palestinians to respond as passive observers, or to limit themselves to statements of protest and condemnation that have little practical effect. Is it reasonable, moreover, that Palestinians should exert no meaningful pressure, through whatever legitimate political means are available, to restart negotiations that have been frozen since 2014? More than a decade has passed—ample time for Israel to seize still more Palestinian land, while the Palestinians have achieved no tangible progress toward resolving the conflict.
It is often argued that the Palestinian cause returned to the center of regional and international attention after Israel’s war of annihilation against Gaza, which has continued for more than two years. Yet in my assessment, that renewed attention has changed little in the actual condition of the Palestinian cause. The annexation of the West Bank continues incrementally and with few effective obstacles. Gaza has been devastated and will require years of reconstruction. More alarming still, Israel continues to occupy more than half of the Strip from which it withdrew in 2005 following intensive Egyptian efforts. I do not believe Israel will withdraw from these areas except under severe conditions that are not presently in place. As a consequence, the two-state solution has, in practical terms, become increasingly unattainable.
Despite the plan announced by President Donald Trump on 29 September 2025 to address the Gaza crisis, the facts on the ground demonstrate that it faces numerous obstacles that have prevented its effective implementation. Nor has it generated meaningful progress toward resolving the Palestinian question as a whole. It also imposes exceptionally difficult conditions both on the restoration of Palestinian Authority control over Gaza and on any revival of a credible pathway toward a two-state solution.
President Mahmoud Abbas’s decree calling for legislative elections on 28 November, to be followed by presidential elections early next year, may mark the beginning of a new phase in Palestinian political life. In my view, however, this phase is primarily connected to the constitutional and reform requirements that have long been overdue. The decisive question, therefore, is whether the elections and their results can actually transform the current Palestinian reality. This is a question that requires an unequivocal Palestinian answer. Otherwise, the process may amount merely to a reshuffling of personalities, the rise and decline of competing factions, and renewed struggles among partisan interests that fail to grasp the gravity of the Israeli plans now advancing on the ground.
I support the principle of elections. Yet an even more important step should precede them: the formulation of an official Palestinian position setting out a coherent vision for resolving the Palestinian question and presenting it to the international community without delay. I believe the most effective way to advance such a vision would be through the Arab League, even if that required convening an emergency Arab summit, so that the proposal would carry the weight of a genuinely Arab position. Such a vision should, above all, be realistic enough to secure international acceptance and should place the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations among its central mechanisms.
Some may regard such a proposal as difficult, even idealistic, at this stage. Yet what I am proposing belongs neither to the realm of miracles nor to political fantasy. What is required is simply for Palestinians to rise to their national responsibility now and confront the projects of annexation, Judaization, displacement, and liquidation without waiting for others to act on their behalf. By doing so, the Palestinian side would have fulfilled its responsibility within the limits of its available capabilities, addressed the international community directly, and placed that community squarely before its own obligations.
This may be the most important message Palestinians need to send to the world before Israel’s elections—elections in which competing parties appear increasingly focused on different formulas for eliminating what remains of the Palestinian question. It may also be the final warning before conditions in the West Bank erupt, and the consequences spread beyond the Palestinian territories to the wider region.
* The writer is the Deputy Director-General, Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS)
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