Mohammad Shtayyeh, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), nominally the group in charge of Palestinian parts of the West Bank, tendered his resignation and dissolved the PA government Monday. But Shtayyeh’s decision might not hold much weight in the face of an ossified organization, led by 88-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas, facing an uncertain postwar future.
The PA has been the representative of the Palestinian people on the world stage since the 1990s. Abbas took over in 2004, but a combination of corrupt leadership, Israeli aggression and expansionist policies, and the power struggle between the PA and Hamas has diminished the organization’s power — and its legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians.
The PA remains an important organization internationally, including to the US government. In discussions about the Occupied Palestinian Territories’ status after Israel’s war on Gaza, the US has advocated for the PA to be the governing authority in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem once the months-old war in Gaza is over, putting renewed focus on the organization. But both the US and Arab nations have pushed for change within the PA, arguing that it needs to institute reforms and hold elections that will renew its legitimacy among Palestinians.
Shtayyeh’s resignation appears to be a step toward heeding international pressure. As he told his cabinet Monday, the “next stage and its challenges requires new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip … the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian [national] consensus … and the extension of the [PA’s] authority over the entire territory of Palestine,” the Financial Times reported.
Shtayyeh will remain on in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed, which could take weeks. Abbas is expected to appoint Mohammad Mustafa, a World Bank economist and one of his close compatriots, as prime minister.
But…
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