BRUSSELS – A group of international negotiators says the Palestinian Authority has built the capabilities needed to run a country.
The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which met Wednesday in Brussels, cited reports from the World Bank, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund saying the Palestinian Authority is "above the threshold for a functioning state in the key sectors they studied."
The positive assessment comes despite the fact that Gaza, part of any future state, is controlled by rival Palestinian faction Hamas which several countries, including the United States, EU and Israel, consider a terrorist group.
Members of the committee, including Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said they hoped that the political process of trying to achieve peace would now match the success of the Palestinian institution-building.
