Pres. Abbas Names New PM in Overhaul of Palestinian Authority

Facts

• Palestinian Pres. Mahmoud Abbas, 88, the long-time leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA), named a new prime minister on Thursday. Mohammed Mustafa, a years-long ally and economic adviser to Abbas, was appointed with the mandate of reforming the PA following mounting pressure from the West.¹
• The PA, run by Abbas's Fatah party, partially controls the West Bank. Following the collapse of a coalition government in 2007, violence erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leading to Hamas taking control of the strip.²
• Mustafa, 69, who has 15 years of experience at the World Bank under his belt, is reportedly well-respected among international stakeholders. According to reports, he will be tasked with establishing a technocratic government that aims to unify the PA's control over both the West Bank and Gaza.³
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the PA can't run post-war Gaza — sparking public friction between Israel and the US. Last month, Netanyahu presented a long-awaited post-war plan that posited Israel would have open-ended control over security and civilian affairs in Gaza after the war. This was swiftly rejected by PA leaders and the US.⁴
• Meanwhile, it was not immediately clear if Abbas' appointment of Mustafa is sufficient to satisfy US calls for reform. Abbas remains in charge and Mustafa will take over the previous prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh. He, alongside his cabinet, resigned from the office last month, citing a need for different arrangements given a 'new reality in the Gaza Strip.'⁵
• Mustafa will have a tall order ahead of him. Aside from unified control of the West Bank and Gaza amid an ongoing war, he has been given the task of rebuilding Gaza — much of which lies in rubble in the five months following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Nearly all of the enclave's 2.3M population has been internally displaced, with famine or near-famine conditions being reported. At least 31,341 Palestinians have been reportedly killed as of Thursday.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Encyclopedia Britannica, ³The Times of Israel, ⁴Associated Press, ⁵Politico and ⁶Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Politico. While the appointment of Mohammed Mustafa will likely be well-received among Western diplomats, it's not clear if the PA has enacted enough reform to satisfy the US. There's optimism that a well-educated technocrat like Mustafa can help push the PA in the right direction, but this has yet to be seen. Either way, Mustafa will have a lot on his plate.
• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by The Times of Israel. Mustafa, who is an internationally respected economist, has been appointed to clean up Fatah's endemic corruption. He is also tasked with unifying the PA's control over the West Bank and Gaza — something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled. Though Israel wants to see this war end and peace be found, skepticism remains that the PA is capable of forming an administration that doesn't threaten Israel's security.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Mustafa, a long-time ally and respected advisor to Abbas, is well-suited to taking this role. However, with much of Gaza in rubble, much of its population is either dear or starved and internally displaced. Meanwhile, Hamas is still in control of Gaza, and the PA is still deeply unpopular with Palestinians. Mustafa has a gargantuan hill to climb if he truly wants to have any positive effect on this situation.

Predictions