In a three-part interview, the scholar and former advisor to Mahmoud Abbas Ghaith al-Omari discusses the current Palestinian predicament, and what can be done to improve it. In the second segment, he addresses the decline of the Palestinian Authority, and the opportunity it creates for terrorists:

There’s a political and security vacuum in the West Bank that is prompting its people to abandon their government and institutions and turn to other actors. . . . In every town, every area in the West Bank, people are taking matters into their own hands because the authorities are unable to ensure their security. That explains—in part—the emergence of small armed groups in the West Bank. In the town of Jenin, it’s Islamic Jihad [an armed Islamist group] that dominates, alongside other small groups. In Hebron, further south, it’s tribes and clans that are maintaining the peace.

Hamas is doing everything it can to encourage an explosion in the West Bank and a collapse of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas’s view in general is that if the Palestinian Authority collapses, then it is the “last man standing” and it becomes the only [actor] for the international community and for the region to deal with. So Hamas is doing this in a number of ways. First of all, we know that it is trying to get its terrorist cells in the West Bank to conduct terror attacks.

In the final segment, al-Omari addresses the claim that in normalizing relations with Israel, Arab states abandoned the Palestinians:

I don’t believe that the signatories of the accords have turned their back on Palestinians. We are witnessing a new way of doing politics in the Middle East, centered in the Gulf. The Arab countries that are undertaking this new approach did this to pursue their national interests, and they have every right to do so. I think the Palestinian leaders don’t realize that the region is changing; they still live in the past.

If [Palestinian leaders] choose to engage, they will obtain strengthened political support from Arab countries. . . . More than political support, there are also possibilities for economic benefits. . . . There is much to gain but they need to make the choice of joining. The region is changing, and the Abraham Accords are here to stay.

For more than a year, the Iran-backed Houthis have been launching drones and missiles at ships traversing the Red Sea, as well as at Israeli territory, in support of Hamas. This development has drastically curtailed shipping through the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, driving up trade prices. This week, the Trump administration began an extensive bombing campaign against the Houthis in an effort to reopen that crucial waterway. Burcu Ozcelik highlights another benefit of this action:

The administration has a broader geopolitical agenda—one that includes countering China’s economic leverage, particularly Beijing’s reliance on Iranian oil. By targeting the Houthis, the United States is not only safeguarding vital shipping lanes but also exerting pressure on the Iran-China energy nexus, a key component of Beijing’s strategic posture in the region.

China was the primary destination for up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports in 2024, underscoring the deepening economic ties between Beijing and Tehran despite U.S. sanctions. By helping fill Iranian coffers, China aids Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in financing proxies like the Houthis. Since October of last year, notable U.S. Treasury announcements have revealed covert links between China and the Houthis.

Striking the Houthis could trigger broader repercussions—not least by disrupting the flow of Iranian oil to China. While difficult to confirm, it is conceivable and has been reported, that the Houthis may have received financial or other forms of compensation from China (such as Chinese-made military components) in exchange for allowing freedom of passage for China-affiliated vessels in the Red Sea.