Palestinian Authority President Approves New Government

Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas on Thursday approved a new government presented by prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, who aims to see it play a role in post-war Gaza.

Mustafa said the "top national priority" for the new government, whose members are set to take office on Sunday, would be the end of the war in Gaza.

He added that his cabinet "will work on formulating visions to reunify the institutions, including assuming responsibility for Gaza".

In January, just over three months into the Israel-Hamas war, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ramallah and urged "administrative reforms" to benefit Palestinians and potentially reunite the West Bank and Gaza under a single authority.

"We'll be looking for this new government to deliver on policies and to implement those credible and far-reaching reforms," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday following the new government's approval.

Kirby also highlighted the important role that a "revitalised Palestinian Authority" would play to "help establish the conditions for stability both in the West Bank and in Gaza".

The new government is made up of 23 ministers, including three women and six Palestinians from Gaza, among them former Gaza City mayor Maged Abu Ramadan.

The fighting and destruction in the Gaza Strip -- which the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas took over from Abbas's government in 2007 -- has piled pressure on the Palestinian Authority.

In his first public appearance after his nomination, Mustafa talked of "transparency" and "zero tolerance" for corruption.

The PA has been dogged by divisions, corruption scandals, authoritarian tendencies and the apparent collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.