Palestinian Authority Announces New Cabinet as It Faces Calls for Reform
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority announced the formation of a new Cabinet on Thursday as it faces international pressure to reform.
President Mahmoud Abbas, who has led the Palestinian Authority for nearly two decades and remains in overall control, announced the new government in a presidential decree. 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, U.S.-educated economist, had vowed to form a technocratic government and create an independent trust fund to help rebuild Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority 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.
The United States has called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority to administer postwar Gaza ahead of eventual statehood.
Israel has rejected that idea, saying it will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza.