New Delhi: Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday announced the resignation of his government, which rules parts of the occupied West Bank, a move the U.S. hopes will contribute to the postwar reconstruction efforts in Gaza, reported news agency AP.
The resignation comes amid escalating violence in the occupied territory and the war on Gaza.
President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007, has expressed his desire for the PA to assume governance in the region after the war. However, the idea faces significant opposition among Palestinians, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vehemently opposed placing the authority in charge of Gaza, as per the AP report.
President Abbas must now decide whether to accept the resignations of Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh’s government. Nonetheless, this development signals the readiness of the Western-backed Palestinian leadership to embrace change, potentially fostering reforms sought by the United States, as diplomatic negotiations intensify to achieve a ceasefire.
The Palestinian Authority, established under interim Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements in the early 1990s, currently oversees portions of the West Bank but grapples with issues of corruption.
“The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip,” Shtayyeh said at a Cabinet meeting, the AP report added.
Netanyahu has vowed to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas after it staged the October 7 attack on Israel that set off the current war. He has called for Israel to maintain open-ended security control in the territory after the conflict, with Palestinian officials in charge of civilian affairs.
The Palestinians have rejected such a limited role and seek an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.
According to AP, Abbas is expected to choose Mohammad Mustafa, chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund, as the next prime minister.
Mustafa is a US-educated economist who has held senior positions in the World Bank and served in senior posts in the Palestinian Authority.