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Mohammed Shtaje is considered a loyal employee of President Abbas

Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa

The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Shtaje, submitted his resignation in Ramallah on Monday.

This was done at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, on whom Arab countries in the region and the USA have exerted appropriate pressure, it was previously said on the Watan TV channel, citing government officials.

There had been reports of such a move by Shtaje for a long time.

Behind this is Washington's desire to bring the two-state solution, which has recently become almost meaningless, back into play as a comprehensive approach to pacifying the Middle East through a fundamentally reformed Palestinian Authority (PA).

However, Shtaje's resignation should initially be seen as a more symbolic step, it was said.

The politician, who is considered a loyal employee of Abbas, who has ruled since 2005, will continue to serve as head of a provisional government.

The formation of a new national consensus government could take weeks or months.

Its success depends primarily on whether the war in the Gaza Strip can be ended and an internationally monitored withdrawal of Israeli forces from the coastal area can be achieved.

USA sees future in reformed PA

The PA, under the leadership of Abbas, administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The most important faction in it is the Fatah movement, which is also led by Abbas.

The Islamist Hamas, which is waging war against Israel in the Gaza Strip, is not a member.

According to the USA's ideas, a fundamentally reformed PA should administer the Gaza Strip after the end of the Gaza war.

Israel vehemently rejects this plan.

It does not want to see Hamas or a Fatah-led PA as a governing power in Gaza in the future.

The last-mentioned ideas about a future role of the PA also include the formation of a technocratic government with people without party affiliation.

In these concepts, Hamas would join the Palestinian umbrella organization PLO without being represented by its own ministers in a future Palestinian government.

Israel also rejects these plans.

The Gaza War was triggered by the massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations on October 7th in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip.

Since then, the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated significantly.

According to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah, 388 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or their own attacks.

There was also increased settler violence against Palestinians.

czl/dpa