Mohamad Shtayé, the Palestinian Prime Minister, presented his resignation and that of his Government this Monday to the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. He does so in light of the “political, economic and security” situation derived from Israel’s “aggression” against the Gaza Strip and the uptick in violence in the West Bank.

“I have put the resignation of the Government at the disposal of the president, Mahmoud Abbas,” Shtayé said during a Cabinet session, as reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

“The decision comes in the face of political, economic and security developments in relation to the aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip and the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” he said.

Thus, he explained that The Palestinian population and the Palestinian “political system” face “a fierce and unprecedented attack, genocide, attempted forced displacement, starvation in Gaza, intensification of settler colonialism and terrorism, and repeated invasions of (refugee) camps and towns in the West Bank.”

“The Palestinian Authority will continue fighting”

Shtayé has also pointed to “the attempts to liquidate the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA), repudiate all signed agreements and a gradual annexation of Palestinian lands“, as well as “efforts to turn the Palestinian Authority into an authority that administers security, without political content.”

“We will continue in confrontation with the occupation and the Palestinian Authority will continue fighting to establish a State in the land of Palestine,” he stressed, before recalling that his government has worked “in complex situations”, including “Israel’s piracy of funds.” (which must be transferred to the Palestinian authorities)”.

In this sense, he recalled that Its Executive faced the known as ‘deal of the century’, presented in 2020 by the then US president, Donald Trump, and has maintained that this document sought to “end the Palestinian cause.”

“This was followed by the coronavirus pandemic, which devastated all of humanity, the war in Ukraine and its economic repercussions and the continued actions of successive Israeli governments on colonization, murder, abuse and genocide against our people in Gaza, as well as the continued escalation in Jerusalem, the West Bank and all Palestinian territories.

Shtayé has defended that his government “was able to achieve a balance between satisfying the needs of the people (…) and preserving political rights”, although he has noted that he believes that “The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political agreements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Stripthe unity talks and the urgent need for an intra-Palestinian consensus (…) with the extension of the authority of the Palestinian Authority to the entire territory.”

Abbas has not reacted for now to the announcement by Shtayé, who had held the position since April 2019. Previously, he had been the Palestinian governor of the Islamic Bank and was Minister of Public Works of the Palestinian Authority in two stages between 2005 and 2006 and between 2008 and 2010.