Fatah 'surprised' by Palestinian groups' concerns over President Abbas decision to form new government

By Awad Rajoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday expressed "surprise" at Palestinian groups voicing concerns about the formation of a new government led by Mohammad Mustafa without national consensus.

The Fatah said in a statement that “the leadership of Hamas is disconnected from reality and the Palestinian people.”

“It has not yet sensed the extent of the catastrophe that our oppressed people are experiencing,” the statement added.

The party expressed "surprise and disapproval at Hamas' talk of exclusivity and division."

“President Mahmoud Abbas has the right, under the Basic Law, to do everything that is in the interest of the Palestinian people,” the party said, adding that “assigning Mohammad Mustafa to form the government falls within the core of the president's political and legal responsibilities."

“The priority of all Palestinians today is to stop the war immediately, prevent displacement, provide relief to our afflicted people, rebuild the Gaza Strip, end the division, and reunify the Palestinian homeland,” it said.

Earlier on Friday, several Palestinian groups condemned President Abbas' announcement of a new government, fearing it would further divide the nation.

The Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and National Initiative groups issued a joint statement in which they questioned the feasibility of replacing one prime minister with another "from the same political environment."

"Taking individual decisions and engaging in superficial and empty steps such as forming a new government without national consensus only reinforces the policy of unilateralism and deepens division," the statement said.

On Thursday, Abbas appointed Mustafa as prime minister and asked him to form a new government.

Even though the prime minister-designate is not a member of the Fatah movement, he is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee.

Israel has waged a retaliatory offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. The offensive has killed over 31,500 victims and injured more than 73,500 others amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi