Palestinian Authority PM announces new cabinet, calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

The newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa formed a new cabinet on Thursday (Mar 28), in which he will alsoserveas the foreign minister, and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Palestinian Authority’s new cabinet

The PA announced the formation of the new cabinet but said that President Mahmoud Abbas will continue to remain in overall control, according to the presidential decree.

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Abbas approved the new government presented by the PM, which is set to take office, on Sunday (Mar 31).

Earlier this month, the Palestinian president, who has been in power for nearly two decades, appointed his longtime adviser, Mustafa as the PM replacing Mohammed Shtayyeh who, along with his government, resigned in February.

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Mustafa said that the new government’s “top national priority” would be the end of the war in Gaza, in his statement to the Palestinian president. He added that this would include a complete Israeli withdrawal from the enclave, reported Palestinian news agency Wafa.

His cabinet “will work on formulating visions to reunify the institutions, including assuming responsibility for Gaza,” said the Palestinian PM.

Mustafa had vowed to form a technocratic government and create an independent trust fund to help rebuild Gaza. The reforms also came amid international pressure to make changes in Abbas’ administration.

The Palestinian president has approved Mustafa’s cabinet which includes: financial expert Omar al-Bitar as finance minister; Muhamad al Amour, former president of the Palestinian Businessmen Association, as economy minister; Ziad Hab al-Reeh, ex-chief of the PA’s internal intelligence agency, as interior minister.

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At least five of the incoming 23 ministers are from Gaza, reported the Associated Press. However, it was not immediately clear if they were still in the territory.

The new PA government will also have a state minister for “relief affairs”. Mustafa will be replacing Riyad al-Maliki as the foreign minister, reported Wafa.

Notably, the Palestinian Authority has limited powers in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian PM also noted the need to stop the “terrorism” by the Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

“In order to enable the launch of the recovery process and preparation for reconstruction, stop the aggression and settlement activities, and curb settlers' terrorism in the West Bank,” said Mustafa.

International calls for reform

Mustafa’s appointment as the PM had left Hamas fuming. The Palestinian militant group criticised the “unilateral” decision by Abbas saying that it was taken without consultation.

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Members from Abbas’ Fatah movement and Hamas met in Russia, last month, in a bid to end long-time divisions weakening Palestinian political aspirations.

In response, Fatah blamed Hamas for the state in which Gaza is today because it unilaterally carried out “the Oct 7 adventure.”

Over the years, international efforts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah have failed. The United States called for reform in the PA to administer post-war Gaza before eventually attaining statehood.

However, Israel has rejected the idea saying it wants to maintain an open-ended security control over Gaza.

(With inputs from agencies)