Fatah and Hamas are making efforts to reach an agreement over a unity government, due to meet in Moscow on Wednesday
\nRAMALLAH
\nPalestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements following Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in Gaza.
\nThe move comes amid growing US pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Palestinian Authority as international efforts have intensified to stop the fighting in Gaza and begin work on a political structure to govern the enclave after the war.
\nHis resignation must still be accepted by Abbas, who may ask him to stay on as caretaker until a permanent replacement is appointed.
\nIn a statement to cabinet, Shtayyeh, an academic economist who took office in 2019, said the next stage would need to take account of the emerging reality in Gaza, which has been laid waste by nearly five months of heavy fighting.
\nHe said the next stage would \u201crequire new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus\u201d.
\nIn addition, it would require \u201cthe extension of the Authority\u2019s authority over the entire land, Palestine\u201d.
\nThe Palestinian Authority, formed 30 years ago under the interim Oslo peace accords, exercises limited governance over parts of the occupied West Bank but lost power in Gaza following a struggle with Hamas in 2007.
\nFatah, the faction that controls the PA, and Hamas have made efforts to reach an agreement over a unity government and are due to meet in Moscow on Wednesday. A senior Hamas official said the move had to be followed by a broader agreement on governance for the Palestinians.
\n\u201cThe resignation of Shtayyeh\u2019s government only makes sense if it comes within the context of national consensus on arrangements for the next phase,\u201d senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
\nIsrael has vowed to destroy Hamas and says that for security reasons, it will not accept Palestinianv Authority rule over Gaza after the war, which broke out following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, according to Israeli tallies.
\nSo far, almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza fighting, according to Palestinian health authorities, and almost the entire population has been driven from their homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fatah and Hamas are making efforts to reach an agreement over a unity government, due to meet in Moscow on Wednesday RAMALLAH Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements following Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in Gaza. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-389874","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n