Palestinian president appoints ally Shtayyeh as new PM

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas appointed longtime ally Mohammad Shtayyeh as prime minister on Sunday, a senior official said, in a move seen as part of efforts to further isolate Hamas.

Abbas asked Shtayyeh, a member of the central committee of the Palestinian president's Fatah party, to form a new government, Fatah vice president Mahmoud al-Aloul told AFP. 

Official Palestinian news agency WAFA also reported the move.

Some analysts view bringing in Shtayyeh to replace outgoing prime minister Rami Hamdallah as part of Abbas's efforts to further isolate his political rivals from Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip.

Shtayyeh, born in 1958, is a long-term Abbas ally, while Hamdallah was politically independent.

Shtayyeh has been part of a number of Palestinian negotiating teams in US-brokered talks with Israel, and is a former government minister.

He is also an academic and economics professor.

Hamdallah's government submitted its resignation in late January, though it has continued on an interim basis.

Abbas remains the primary decision-maker and interlocutor with the international community.

Palestinian politics has essentially been paralysed since 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's forces in a near civil war, a year after winning parliamentary elections.

Since then Abbas's governments have maintained limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, while Hamas has led a rival administration in Gaza.

The previous government was formed during a period of improved relations and had the backing of Hamas.

This government will instead be dominated by Fatah, though other smaller parties will be represented. Hamas will not be included. 

Abbas in December said he would dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Council, a move seen as intended to weaken Hamas which holds a majority of the seats in the council.

Abbas was elected in 2005 for an initial four-year term but no elections have been held since then due to the Fatah-Hamas split.

The Palestinian Authority has in the past slashed the salaries of former government workers in Gaza and cut fuel subsidies to pay for electricity - measures aimed at pressuring Hamas.

It has also been accused of blocking large-scale reconstruction projects in Gaza that were approved by Israel.

The previous government was formed during a period of improved relations and had the backing of Hamas.

This government is instead likely to be dominated by Fatah, though other smaller parties will be represented. Hamas is not expected to be included.

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