The Palestinian Authority has announced the formation of a new Cabinet as it faces international pressure to reform. President Mahmoud Abbas, who has led the PA for nearly two decades and remains in overall control, announced the new government in a presidential decree on Thursday. None of the incoming ministers is a well-known figure.Abbas tapped Mohammad Mustafa, a longtime adviser, to be prime minister earlier this month. Mustafa, a politically independent US-educated economist, had vowed to form a technocratic government and create an independent trust fund to help rebuild Gaza. Mustafa will also serve as foreign minister.
Interior Minister Ziad Hab al-Rih is a member of Abbas’ secular Fatah movement and held the same portfolio in the previous government.
The Interior Ministry oversees the security forces. The incoming minister for Jerusalem affairs, Ashraf al-Awar, registered to run as a Fatah candidate in elections in 2021 that were indefinitely delayed.At least five of the incoming 23 ministers are from Gaza, but it was not immediately clear if they are still in the territory. The PA administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Its forces were driven from Gaza when Hamas seized power in 2007, and it has no power there. It has little popular support or legitimacy among Palestinians, in part because it has not held elections in 18 years. Its policy of cooperating with Israel on security matters is extremely unpopular and has led many Palestinians to view it as a subcontractor of the occupation.Opinion polls in recent years have consistently found that a vast majority of Palestinians want the 88-year-old Abbas to resign. The United States has called for a revitalised PA to administer postwar Gaza ahead of eventual statehood.
Israel has rejected that idea, saying it will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and partner with Palestinians who are not affiliated with the PA or Hamas. It’s unclear who in Gaza would be willing to take on such a role.
Hamas has rejected the formation of the new government as illegitimate, calling instead for all Palestinian factions, including Fatah, to form a power-sharing government ahead of national elections.It has warned Palestinians in Gaza against cooperating with Israel to administer the territory, saying anyone who does will be treated as a collaborator, which is understood as a death threat.
US sanctions online media site Gaza Now
The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on online media site Gaza Now and its founder Mustafa Ayash for allegedly supporting Hamas. US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control says that after the October 7 attack by Hamas against Israel — the online entity began a fundraising effort in support of the militant organisation. Gaza Now’s Arabic channel has more than 300,000 followers on social media channel X, formerly known as Twitter, and a large following on the encrypted chat platform Telegram.Included in the sanctions are firms Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Ltd., and their director Aozma Sultana, who are alleged to have partnered on multiple fundraising efforts alongside Gaza Now.The sanctions were imposed in collaboration with the UK’s Office of Foreign Sanctions Implementation. Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson said in a statement that the US and its partners “will continue to leverage our tools to disrupt Hamas’ ability to facilitate further attacks.”A representative for Gaza Now and Ayash were not immediately available. The sanctions block access to US property and bank accounts and prevent those designated from doing business with Americans.
