This resignation comes “in light of developments linked to the aggression against Gaza” and the “escalation” of violence in the occupied West Bank, declared the Palestinian Prime Minister.
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“I presented the resignation of the government to Mr. President on February 20 and I am submitting it today in writing.” In a solemn declaration on Monday February 26, Mohammed Shtayyeh, Palestinian Prime Minister, submitted his resignation, as well as that of his government, to President Mahmoud Abbas. He has been in office since spring 2019.
The Palestinian head of state did not immediately react to this announcement from the Shtayyeh government which, according to the latter, comes “in the light of developments linked to the aggression against Gaza” and to “climbing” violence in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7.
In recent months, many Palestinians have criticized or even called for the resignation of President Mahmoud Abbas, 88, because of his “incapacity” in the face of Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip. “The next step requires new government and political measures that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip (…), an urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus” and the creation of a Palestinian state with authority over the West Bank and Gaza, said Mohammed Shtayyeh.
An Israeli plan without a Palestinian state
The resignation of the Shtayyeh government comes before a meeting of Palestinian factions in Moscow and as countries in the region, Western states and opponents of Mahmoud Abbas plead for a reformed Palestinian Authority ultimately responsible for the West Bank and Gaza under the banner of an independent Palestinian state.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed last week his first plan to “post-war”, which provides for the maintenance of “security control” of Israel in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, a possibility rejected by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. The plan, which does not provide for the creation of a Palestinian state, was criticized by the United States, Israel’s first ally. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opposed any “reoccupation” from the Gaza Strip, from which the Israeli army withdrew in 2005.