What would Awad do if a group of radicals broke into his mosque and started shooting and beheading the members inside. The concept of Palestine was created in 1987 when Yasser Arafat stood at the UN, pistol in his belt, and demand that Israeli land be transferred to the new state of Palestine. They have been offered exactly that 5 times since 1947, and refused each offer because it didn't call for the extermination of Israel. Personally, I'd rather see Israel just annex Gaza and be done with it.
The other alternative is elections supervised by the US and a Muslim state with both parties counting each and every in-person vote. Each vote is completely private with their index finger dipped in indelible ink after voting. (Some other nation does this (India??).) Both countries announce the results and supervise a final set of election. Both supervising countries then leave the country.