New structures?

Palestinian prime minister resigns

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced his resignation.(Bild: AP)

The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh is resigning. He has handed in his letter of resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas, the head of government said on Monday. The reason was the latest developments in the region, including the war.

The resignation was at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Shtayyeh said on Monday. Governments of Arab countries and the USA had exerted corresponding pressure. The White House is in favor of a reformed Palestinian Authority.

With his withdrawal, he wanted to make it easier for the population to agree on political agreements after the war, said the politician. However, the move was more symbolic, it was said. Shtayyeh is considered a loyal collaborator of Abbas and will continue to head a provisional government. Forming a new government could take weeks or months.

Fatah is a rival of Hamas
The 66-year-old has been Prime Minister of the Palestinian Territories since 2019. He is an economist and belongs to the Fatah party, the Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine. Its goals include the establishment of an independent democratic state with full sovereignty and the eradication of the nationalist ideology of Zionism.

Fatah is the faction that carries the most weight in the Palestinian Authority (PA), which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas is not part of the PA and rivals Fatah. Israel's government does not want to see either Hamas or a Fatah-led PA as the government in the coastal strip in future.