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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister. (Photo: via WAFA news agency)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Several Palestinian Resistance groups slammed on Friday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ announcement of a new government, fearing that the move would further divide the nation.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the National Initiative group issued a joint statement in which they questioned the feasibility of replacing one prime minister with another “from the same political environment.”

“Taking individual decisions and engaging in superficial and empty steps such as forming a new government without national consensus only reinforces the policy of unilateralism and deepens division,” the statement said.

On Thursday, Abbas appointed Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister and asked him to form a new government.

Mustafa will replace Mohammad Shtayyeh who resigned in February in light of the developments related to the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.

Even though he is not a member of Abbas’ Fatah movement, Mustafa is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee.

The statement urged the Fatah movement to work with Palestinian groups to administer the current stage in accordance with what serves the Palestinian national cause and meets the people’s aspirations to liberate their land and sanctuaries.

“Making individual decisions, and engaging in formal and steps devoid of substances, such as forming a new government without national consensus, is a reinforcement of the policy of unilateralism and a deepening of division, at a historical moment when our people and national cause are most in need of consensus and unity, and the formation of a unified national leadership, preparing for free democratic elections with the participation of all components of the Palestinian people,” the statement said, adding:

“These steps indicate the depth of the crisis within the leadership of the (Palestinian) Authority, its detachment from reality, and the significant gap between it and our people, their concerns, and aspirations, which is confirmed by the opinions of the vast majority of our people that expressed their loss of trust in these policies and orientations.”

Gaza Genocide

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 31,490 Palestinians have been killed, and 73,439 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’ 

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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