Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday swore in a new government headed by a loyalist from his dominant Fatah party, a move rejected by his Islamist rival Hamas as a blow to unity efforts.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, an economist and longtime Abbas adviser, will serve as prime minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Foreign Minister Riad Malki and Finance Minister Shukri Bishara will continue in their positions.
Shtayyeh was named Palestinian prime minister on March 10, replacing the independent university president Rami Hamdallah. He will run the ministries of interior and religious affairs until new appointees are named for the two posts.
The rival Hamas group that runs Gaza called the move blow to unity efforts that faltered since the two groups signed a new reconciliation deal in Cairo in October 2017, but disputes over power-sharing had blocked the implementation of the agreement.
"This is a separatist government, it has no national legitimacy and it will reinforce the chances of severing the West Bank from Gaza," said a statement issued by Hamas as the swearing-in ceremony in Ramallah ended.
Two factions of Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization refused to take part in Shtayyeh's government.
Shtayyeh's immediate challenge is to shore up the cash-strapped PA, which exercises limited self-rule under interim peace accords with Israel.
The PA has been squeezed by steep U.S. aid cuts, with the crisis exacerbated by a dispute with Israel over the deduction of a sum equivalent to what the PA pays to terrorists and their families from the tax revenue it collects for the PA, which amounts to about 5% of the tax money.
The PA has refused to accept any tax transfers from Israel until those funds are restored. It scaled back wages paid to civil servants in February and March to weather the crisis.
Speaking to his new cabinet members, Abbas repeated his rejection of Trump's as-yet-unannounced peace plan and said it was not useful to talk to Trump after he moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognized the holy city as Israel's capital.
"More developments will take place in the coming days but we will cooperate and confront it together because they are going to be difficult," said Abbas, hinting at the possible announcement of Trump's peace initiative.
Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special Middle East peace envoy, welcomed the announcement of a new government and promised to cooperate with it.
"The United Nations remains fully committed to working with the Palestinian leadership and people in ending the occupation and advancing their legitimate national aspirations for statehood based on U.N. resolutions," Mladenov said.
