The Palestinian Authority has unveiled a new Cabinet in response to mounting international calls for reform.
President Mahmoud Abbas, who has held leadership for almost twenty years, disclosed the composition of the new government through a presidential decree issued on Thursday. Notably, none of the incoming ministers are prominent public figures.
Longtime adviser to Abbas, Mohammad Mustafa, was chosen to be prime minister earlier this month. Mustafa, an economist educated in the United States and politically independent, pledged to establish a technocratic government and establish an independent trust fund aimed at aiding in the reconstruction of Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority governs certain areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Its forces were driven out of Gaza in 2007 when Hamas seized control, and it currently has no power there.
The United States has urged for a renewed Palestinian Authority to oversee postwar Gaza in preparation for eventual statehood. However, Israel has opposed this notion, asserting its intention to retain indefinite security control over Gaza.
Five of the incoming 23 ministers are from Gaza, although it is unclear if they are currently located in the territory.
