02/26/2024

Palestinian Prime Minister Submits Government’s Resignation

This move could open the door to reforms

The Palestinian prime minister announced the resignation of his government on Monday, paving the way for a shake-up in the Palestinian Authority, which the U.S. hopes will eventually take on a role in postwar Gaza.

Many obstacles remain to making a revamped Palestinian Authority a reality. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces were driven from Gaza by Hamas in 2007, has made clear that he would like the PA to govern the enclave after the war. But it is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has roundly rejected the idea of putting the authority in charge of the territory.

Abbas must still decide whether he accepts the resignations of Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh’s government. But the move signals a willingness by the Western-backed Palestinian leadership to accept a shake-up that might usher in reforms sought by the United States, as international negotiations ramp up to bring about a cease-fire. The authority, created under interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals in the early 1990s, administers parts of the West Bank but is beset by corruption.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.