Palestinian resistance factions decry Abbas naming of new PA PM
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In a statement, Palestinian resistance factions called the forming of a government without national consensus a "reinforcement of policy of exclusion."
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President Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammad Mustafa pose for a commemorative photo in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank, occupied Palestine, on March 14, 2024 (WAFA)
Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups warned on Friday that President Mahmoud Abbas' selection of a new Palestinian prime minister this week might exacerbate differences while the war in Gaza continues.
In a statement, the factions which include Islamic Jihad Movement, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Palestinian National Initiative, noted that "Making individual decisions, and engaging in formal steps that are devoid of substance, like forming a new government without national consensus, is a reinforcement of a policy of exclusion and the deepening of division."
These steps in turn indicate a massive gap between the Palestinian Authority and "the people, their concerns and their aspirations."
The statement came the day after the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, named Mohammad Mustafa as the Prime Minister of the PA, the state-run Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Thursday.
In an 11-point plan, Abbas listed a set of reforms and goals that the Musatafa's government should seek to achieve during its term.
The new Prime Minister was assigned to lead the relief efforts and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip and reform the institutions of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Mustafa replaces former Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh who, along with his government, resigned in late February.
Earlier on February 27, Abbas accepted the resignation of Shtayyeh's government and assigned the Prime Minister and his ministers to a caretaker government until a new one was formed.
Shtayyeh had submitted his resignation a day earlier, and Abbas issued a decree of acceptance, assigning the government to work temporarily until the formation of a new government,
An official source pointed out that the resignation decision was a preemptive step taken by Abbas in the face of pressures faced by the Palestinian Authority (PA) from regional countries, the international community, and the United States.
Palestinian factions in Moscow commit to continued dialogue
In early March, Palestinian factions gathered in Moscow and thanked the Russian leadership for arranging meetings. They appreciated Moscow's support of the Palestinian cause, as stated in a collective statement following discussions in Moscow.
This comes as a three-day inter-Palestinian gathering, initiated by Russia to facilitate consensus among different Palestinian factions regarding the genocide in the Gaza Strip, commenced on Thursday.
"Palestinian factions gathered in the city of Moscow expressed gratitude and appreciation to the Russian leadership for organizing the meetings and for its position in support of the Palestinian problem," the statement said.
In the statement, the factions agreed to continue ongoing discussions to achieve national unity, stressing that their objective is to address the termination of the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip and guarantee unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Furthermore, the factions reached a consensus on the imperative necessity to compel "Israel" to withdraw its troops from the enclave, as outlined in the statement.
"[They] agreed to oppose, stop, and disrupt attempts to resettle our people from our Palestinian land, in particular in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank and al-Quds," the statement reads.
