By Qais Abo Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said on Monday that he has sent the resignation of his government to President Mahmoud Abbas.
“The upcoming stage requires new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the developments in the Gaza Strip,” Shtayyeh said during a Cabinet session in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing nearly 29,700 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement 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 stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. 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.
Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio