Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has chosen longtime adviser Mohammad Shtayyeh as his new prime minister, officials say, a step that further deepens the rift with the rival Hamas group.
Abbas is expected to announce the appointment later today, the officials say, speaking on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.
File: President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat and Mohammed Shtayyeh (right) and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molho (left) at the formal resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, in the Oval Office, July 30, 2013. (Official White House Photo, Chuck Kennedy)
Shtayyeh, a British-educated economist, is a top official in Abbas’s Fatah movement. He is a former peace negotiator and strong proponent of a two-state solution with Israel. He also is a strong critic of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in 2007.
The Hamas takeover has left the Palestinians torn between rival governments in Gaza and the West Bank, where Abbas’s Palestinian Authority administers autonomous areas. Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed.
Shtayyeh will succeed Rami Hamdallah, who had overseen a unity government formed nearly five years ago with the goal of reaching a conciliation deal with Hamas.
— AP
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