Who should take control of Gaza after Israel is finished with Hamas?

US secretary of state Antony Blinken wants Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, to play a central role in governing Gaza, writes Kim Sengupta. But imposing a new leader will be hugely problematic

When Abbas won the Palestinian Authority presidency in 2005, he was viewed by many as the reformer who would lift the movement out of its doldrums (Getty)

There used to be a consensus among responsible politicians in this part of the world that “Mahmoud Abbas should not be sent to Gaza on the top of an Israeli tank’ to take power. The imposition of the flawed Palestinian Authority on the people there would, it was believed, be deeply resented by the population.

The imposition of the flawed Palestinian Authority on the people there would, it was believed, be deeply resented by the population.

But we are no longer living in normal times, and what happens to Gaza after Israel has carried out its threat to smite Hamas is an issue of deep concern to the international community.