A new government in Ramallah with its eye on Gaza

..... After a long process of nominations, consultations, and recommendations, Abbas appointed Fatah Central Committee member, to form the 18th Palestinian government on March 10th. The presidential decree tasking him with the government formation stipulated that the government focus on supporting the efforts “to re-establish national unity, restore Gaza to legitimacy, and prepare for the upcoming elections.”


.... There was no objective reason for the dismissal of Hamdallah and appointing Ishtayeh to the premiership. On the contrary, Abbas’s step only aggravates the Palestinians and does not achieve anything more than replacing faces and changing individuals, as both men are subservient to him.


..... it is worth noting that in the mandate granted by Abbas to the new prime minister, he clearly mentioned regaining Gaza . There are two options to achieve this, either through a genuine and serious reconciliation that restores national unity between the Gaza Strip and turns the page on the horrible division or through efforts on the ground which aim to end Hamas’s control over Gaza either by causing internal security disorder in Gaza by increasing sanctions on Gaza and forcing the people to protest against Hamas, or perhaps there is already a regional international plan put into place, with Israeli participation, to achieve this.

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