Palestinian Authority PM, government resign
JERUSALEM • The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister presented the resignation of the entire government on Monday, opening the way for a revitalized administration that the United States and its allies envision taking on an expanded role in postwar Gaza.
The United States and several Arab countries have been pushing a plan that would see Gaza eventually administered by the entity that has some governing powers in the West Bank — an initiative not backed by the Israeli government.
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday that he had tendered the government’s resignation to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas because of the “significant political, security and economic developments” stemming from Israel’s war in Gaza alongside increased violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
“The next phase and its challenges require a new government and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip, national unity and the urgent need for achieving inter-palestinian consensus,” he said.
The move follows months of intense deliberations between Ramallah, Washington and Arab states, on how best to boost the legitimacy and efficiency of the Palestinian Authority so it can be part of a postwar solution in Gaza.
The consensus has converged on a vision for an empowered prime minister role and government of technocrats, with a curb on some of the absolute unchecked power that has accumulated around 88-year-old Abbas, according to U.S. and Palestinian officials.
But major stumbling blocks remain: Israel has said it will not accept Palestinian Authority rule over Gaza and has opposed calls from the United States for a Palestinian state. And there is skepticism regarding how much Abbas will be willing to relinquish power or enact any deep overhaul that go beyond a change of faces in a government.
“If Abbas continues to appoint people, continues to dismiss people, where is the change exactly?” said Nasser al-qidwa, a longtime senior Fatah official now living in exile after breaking with Abbas. If the resignation is accepted, it will be “the same government with a different chapeau.”
The future of the Palestinian Authority has been a subject of intense debate between the Israelis and its U.S. ally.