Israeli officials and Western diplomats said that US and Israel were discussing ways to destabilize the Palestinian government so that newly elected Hamas officials will fail and elections will be called again. The intention was to starve the PA of money and international connections. The approach was being discussed at the highest levels of the US State Department and the Israeli government. Israeli military officials discussed cutting Gaza off completely from the West Bank and making the Israeli-Gaza border an international one. Hamas Members of Parliament would be denied to travel freely between Gaza and West Bank.