Hamas and other Palestinian factions condemn appointment of new prime minister

(Patria) - Hamas and other Palestinian factions said on Friday that the appointment of a new Palestinian prime minister by President Mahmoud Abbas this week could deepen divisions as war rages in Gaza, AFP reported.

"Making individual decisions and engaging in formal steps devoid of substance, such as forming a new government without national consensus, is strengthening the policy of exclusion and deepening divisions," the factions said in a statement. Such steps indicate "the huge gap between the (Palestinian) authority and the people, their concerns, and their aspirations".

The statement came a day after Abbas appointed Mohammed Mustafa, a long-time economic advisor, as prime minister and tasked him with forming a new government.

Other signatories included Gaza's second-largest militant group, Islamic Jihad, the leftist
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Palestinian National Initiative, a political party seeking a third way between Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas.

Mustafa replaces Mohammed Shtayyeh, who resigned less than three weeks ago, citing the need for changes after Hamas's October 7 attack launched a war with Israel in Gaza.

In a letter to Abbas published on Friday, Mustafa accepted the appointment and said he was "very aware of the gravity... of the terrible circumstances the Palestinian people are going through".

The 69-year-old Mustafa now faces the task of forming a new government for the
Palestinian Authority, which has limited powers in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Since 2007, control over the Palestinian territories has been divided between Abbas's Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Analysts say Mustafa's closeness to Abbas would limit the chances of major reform
of the Palestinian Authority.

The United States and other powers have called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take control of all Palestinian territories after the war ends. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has rejected post-war plans for Palestinian sovereignty.