Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas appointed long-time ally Mohammad Shtayyeh as prime minister on Sunday, a senior official said, in a move seen as part of efforts to further isolate Hamas. Abbas asked Shtayyeh, a member of the central committee of the Palestinian president's Fatah party, to form a new government, Fatah vice president Mahmoud al-Aloul told AFP. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA also reported the move.
Some analysts view bringing in Shtayyeh to replace outgoing prime minister Rami Hamdallah as part of Abbas's efforts to further isolate political rival Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip. Shtayyeh, 61, is a long-term Abbas ally, while Hamdallah was politically independent.
The previous government was formed during a period of improved relations and had the backing of Hamas. This government is instead expected to be dominated by Fatah, though other smaller parties will be represented. Hamas will not be included. Hamas said the appointment reflected "Abbas's unilateralism and monopoly of power".
"Hamas stresses that it does not recognise this separatist government because it was formed without national consensus," spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement. Shtayyeh has been part of a number of Palestinian negotiating teams in US-brokered talks with Israel, and is a former government minister.
He is also an academic and economics professor. Hamdallah's government submitted its resignation in late January, though it has continued on an interim basis. Abbas remains the primary decision-maker and interlocutor with the international community. Palestinian politics has essentially been paralysed since 2007, when Islamist group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's forces in a near civil war, a year after winning parliamentary elections.
Since then Abbas's governments have maintained limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, while Hamas has led a rival administration in Gaza. Abbas has recently been in conflict with US President Donald Trump's administration, which is expected to release its long-awaited peace in the coming months. Abbas froze ties with the White House after Trump declared Jerusalem Israel's capital in 2017.
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