Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named Mohammad Mustafa on Tuesday as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Thursday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appoints Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 14, 2024 in this handout image. Palestinian president office/Handout via Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named Mohammad Mustafa on Tuesday as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Thursday.
Mustafa's appointment comes after mounting pressure to reform the governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories and improve its governance in the occupied West Bank where they are based.
Mustafa replaces former Prime Minister Mohammed Shttayah who, along with his government, resigned in February.
Mohammad Mustafa, is one of the leading Palestinian business figures and a rare ally of PA head Mahmoud Abbas who has overseen Gaza reconstruction under Hamas Islamist rule.
A U.S.-educated economist, he once ran the Palestinian telecoms company Paltel and more recently the PA's public Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), with nearly $1 billion in assets funding projects across the Palestinian territories.
He was tapped a decade ago to help lead reconstruction efforts in Gaza after an earlier war between Israel and Islamist militant group Hamas.
Reporting By Ali Sawafta
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has not ruled out talks with Washington, but says they can only take place if both countries are on "equal terms," an Iranian state-run newspaper reported on Thursday.
Israel carried out an air strike on the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, targeting what the military said was a command centre belonging to the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, used to direct 'terrorist activities' against Israel.
Turkish forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria over the past week, the defence ministry said on Thursday, continuing attacks in the region after a disarmament call from the PKK leader and a separate accord between U.S.-backed Kurds and Damascus.
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