Four Palestinian resistance factions have criticized President Mahmoud Abbas for appointing his longtime economic adviser Mohammed Mustafa as the next prime minister, urging the Fatah movement to take serious and effective measures that best serve the Palestinian cause at the current critical juncture.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Palestinian National Initiative, in a joint statement released on Friday, underscored that “it is of utmost importance to highlight that the primary focus of our nation should be on countering the Israeli aggression, and the unrelenting genocide and starvation which besieged Palestinians in Gaza are exposed to.”
The statement added, “We must, at the same time, address the crimes being committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and occupied al-Quds, and deter any Israeli scenario that seeks to forcibly displace Palestinians.”
The factions stated that taking solitary decisions, like the formation of a new government without national consensus, only strengthens the culture of exclusivity and worsens internal divisions.
“This is while Palestinians urgently require unity and consensus, besides a unified national leadership that can pave the way for holding democratic elections, which are inclusive of all factions that represent the entire Palestinian nation,” they noted.
The four factions questioned the feasibility of replacing a prime minister and his administration with alternatives with identical political and partisan backgrounds.
They also voiced their disapproval of the Palestinian Authority’s persistent pursuit of exclusivity and its flagrant disregard for collective national efforts aimed at uniting Palestinians against the Israeli aggression.
Mustafa replaces former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, who stepped down in February in the light of the vicious Israeli onslaught on Gaza and soaring violence in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by the Fatah party, exercises limited powers in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
