Photo: Palestinian Authority via Agence France-Presse Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (left) with new Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Ramallah on March 14, 2024
Hossam Ezzedine – Agence France-Presse and Majeda Al-Batsh – Agence France-Presse in Ramallah, Palestinian Territories
March 15, 2024
- Middle East
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed one of his loyalists, economist Mohammad Mustafa, as new prime minister, at a time when the weakened Palestinian Authority must face the post-war perspective in Gaza.< /p>
Mr. Mustafa, 69, former chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) and economic advisor to President Abbas, held a senior position at the World Bank in Washington for 15 years.
This international civil servant takes office in the midst of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
At the end of February, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh presented the resignation of his government, arguing for the need for a new policy taking into account “the new reality in the Gaza Strip” and the “urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus”.
A few days later, the various Palestinian movements – including the rivals of Hamas and Fatah, the party of Mahmoud Abbas – met in Moscow and announced their intention to get talks back on track to “unite” their voices under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Since fratricidal clashes in June 2007, the Palestinian leadership has been divided between the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, which exercises limited power in the West Bank, territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, while Hamas is in power in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
In recent months, many Palestinians have criticized President Abbas, 88, last elected in 2005, for his “helplessness” in the face of Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip.
The question of the role of the Palestinian Authority when the war ends remains a great unknown, due to its limited influence and the refusal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a future Palestinian state .
“Acceptable for Americans”
For Palestinian analyst Abdul Majeed Sweilem, Mr. Mustafa's appointment represents an attempt to strengthen Palestinian institutions at a time when President Abbas is “besieged and under pressure” from Israel and Washington .
Mr. Mustafa will likely be considered an “acceptable profile for Americans,” the analyst adds.
But for political scientist Khalil Shaheen, the new prime minister is above all a loyalist of President Abbas. “Mustafa has an economic vision, but he remains under the authority of President Abbas. At the end of the day, he will remain his right arm,” he believes.
“Abbas wants to prove that he supports reforms”, but “with this appointment, he ensures that he has a prime minister who will not challenge him”, adds Mr. Shaheen.< /p>
The international community, led by the United States, supports the two-state solution as a perspective after the war and to establish peace in the region. But for Washington, this implies “a renovated Palestinian authority,” a senior White House official confided last month on condition of anonymity.
The war was provoked on October 7 by an unprecedented attack carried out in Israel by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by Agence France -Press produced from official Israeli data.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas and launched a vast military offensive in the Gaza Strip which has since left more than 31,300 dead, the vast majority civilians, according to the latest report as of the Hamas Ministry of Health.