The door quickly closed on the possibility of a Palestinian Authority (PA) return to power in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip after the conflict, according to several Israeli media.

While American President Joe Biden pleaded on Saturday for a reunification of Gaza and the West Bank under the governance of a “revitalized Palestinian Authority,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly showed his disagreement. The current form of the Palestinian Authority is not able to take responsibility for Gaza after the fighting in the region, Netanyahu argued.

“After we fought and did all this, how could we give it to them?” he asked rhetorically. The head of state went even further on Sunday, accusing Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, of denying the massacre at the “Tribe of Nova” Festival that took place during last month’s conflict with Hamas.

Netanyahu accused Abbas of denying an Israeli armed forces helicopter that caused collateral casualties while trying to eliminate Hamas terrorists who were attacking the festival. This information was not verified by Haaretz, which cited a statement from Abbas’ government claiming that an Israeli aircraft caused several casualties at an unidentified location in Gaza City.