A new, Fatah-led Palestinian Authority government was sworn into power on Sunday – in PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria. But Hamas still rules the new, Fatah-free Gaza.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas swore in an “emergency government” in Ramallah (north of Jerusalem) on Sunday, installing 11 new ministers who are to serve for as long as the PA chairman deems it necessary. According to the PA chairman’s aide, Nabil Amar, all of the new ministers are “independent technocrats.”
The ceremony took place a day after Abbas issued a decree allowing the formation of a government without prior approval from the Palestinian Legislative Council. The PA chairman had already officially dissolved the Hamas-Fatah “unity government”, led by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, last Thursday.
The emergency government will be led by newly-appointed Prime Minister Salem Fayyad, a professional economist and finance minister in the previous PA government, whose bank account was used to channel foreign aid into Fatah-controlled PA coffers. According to media reports, Fayyad will keep his job as finance minister and will also take on the additional role of foreign minister.
Abdul Razek al-Yihya was sworn in as the new Interior Minister. al-Yihya served as interior minister in the PLO government of the late Yasser Arafat and was involved in negotiations with Israel.
The new interior minister faces an uphill battle, having to coordinate security and civilian affairs in the PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, while trying to resurrect the Fatah-linked security forces – the few that remain – in Gaza.
The rest of the Fatah-appointed PA cabinet ministers are as follows:
Riyad al-Maliki – Justice and Information Minister.
Ziyad al-Bandak – Municipal Affairs Minister.
Ashraf al-Ajarmi – Prisoners, Youth and Sports Minister.
Kamel al-Hasuna – Communications, Economy and Public Works Minister.
Hulud Deibas – Tourism and Women’s Affairs Minister.
Namis el-Alami – Education Minister.
Samir Abdullah – Planning Minister.
Fat’hi Abu Marli – Health Minister.
Jamal Bawatna – Religious Affairs Minister.
Bawatna is also the mufti of the Ramallah district.
Mashhur Abu Dakka – Transportation Minister.
Who Rules the PA – and in Which Area?
Abbas declared that the new emergency government has authority in Judea and Samaria and in Gaza. He also announced Sunday he was outlawing the Islamist Hamas terrorist organization and disbanding its armed militia.
Fatah security men have been attacking Hamas-linked stores and other buildings in Judea and Samaria, burning several of them, since last week. The incidents have taken place primarily in the Samaria cities of Ramallah and Shechem.
Local residents said that Fatah members kidnapped several Hamas men last week in Shechem. There were also reports over the weekend that Fatah security men executed a resident for allegedly collaborating with Israel. It was not clear whether the man was associated with Hamas, although it seemed unlikely.
Hamas issued a statement in response to the attacks, accusing Fatah of “ethnic cleansing” against its members. Fatah spokesman Abu Odai responded by charging Hamas with trying to divert attention from Gaza, where he said Hamas had “murdered 400 Fatah activists.”
Hamas has led the government after being elected by Palestinian Authority residents to take the helm in a landslide victory at the polls in the PA elections held in January 2006.
Haniyeh insists that mandate is still in force.
The deposed prime minister issued a statement saying “The national unity government asserts here that we are fulfilling our duty according to the law.”
Haniyeh’s words were echoed by Hamas representative Abu Osama Abd el-Moti, stationed in Iran, who promised that the “resistance” to Israel’s presence “will get stronger.” El-Moti added that “Hamas has no intention of establishing a government in the Gaza Strip, and responding to Israel’s and Fatah’s dictates.”
Hamas is insisting that the new Fatah emergency government is irrelevant, the result of an American-Israeli conspiracy, calling it “the peak of illegal political thuggery.”
Spokesman Ismail Radwan told reporters, “The Islamic Resistance Movement considers this government illegitimate and illegal. We will not work with it.”
Nonetheless, there were glimmers on Sunday that Haniyeh has begun to realize the party’s over, dismissing several senior officers in the PA security forces in Gaza. Kamal el-Sheikh, chief of the PA police was one of the first to go, as was the commander of the Preventive Security Services, Rashid Abu Shabak, who had already seen the writing on the wall and tendered his resignation last month.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas swore in an “emergency government” in Ramallah (north of Jerusalem) on Sunday, installing 11 new ministers who are to serve for as long as the PA chairman deems it necessary. According to the PA chairman’s aide, Nabil Amar, all of the new ministers are “independent technocrats.”
The ceremony took place a day after Abbas issued a decree allowing the formation of a government without prior approval from the Palestinian Legislative Council. The PA chairman had already officially dissolved the Hamas-Fatah “unity government”, led by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, last Thursday.
The emergency government will be led by newly-appointed Prime Minister Salem Fayyad, a professional economist and finance minister in the previous PA government, whose bank account was used to channel foreign aid into Fatah-controlled PA coffers. According to media reports, Fayyad will keep his job as finance minister and will also take on the additional role of foreign minister.
Abdul Razek al-Yihya was sworn in as the new Interior Minister. al-Yihya served as interior minister in the PLO government of the late Yasser Arafat and was involved in negotiations with Israel.
The new interior minister faces an uphill battle, having to coordinate security and civilian affairs in the PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, while trying to resurrect the Fatah-linked security forces – the few that remain – in Gaza.
The rest of the Fatah-appointed PA cabinet ministers are as follows:
Riyad al-Maliki – Justice and Information Minister.
Ziyad al-Bandak – Municipal Affairs Minister.
Ashraf al-Ajarmi – Prisoners, Youth and Sports Minister.
Kamel al-Hasuna – Communications, Economy and Public Works Minister.
Hulud Deibas – Tourism and Women’s Affairs Minister.
Namis el-Alami – Education Minister.
Samir Abdullah – Planning Minister.
Fat’hi Abu Marli – Health Minister.
Jamal Bawatna – Religious Affairs Minister.
Bawatna is also the mufti of the Ramallah district.
Mashhur Abu Dakka – Transportation Minister.
Who Rules the PA – and in Which Area?
Abbas declared that the new emergency government has authority in Judea and Samaria and in Gaza. He also announced Sunday he was outlawing the Islamist Hamas terrorist organization and disbanding its armed militia.
Fatah security men have been attacking Hamas-linked stores and other buildings in Judea and Samaria, burning several of them, since last week. The incidents have taken place primarily in the Samaria cities of Ramallah and Shechem.
Local residents said that Fatah members kidnapped several Hamas men last week in Shechem. There were also reports over the weekend that Fatah security men executed a resident for allegedly collaborating with Israel. It was not clear whether the man was associated with Hamas, although it seemed unlikely.
Hamas issued a statement in response to the attacks, accusing Fatah of “ethnic cleansing” against its members. Fatah spokesman Abu Odai responded by charging Hamas with trying to divert attention from Gaza, where he said Hamas had “murdered 400 Fatah activists.”
Hamas has led the government after being elected by Palestinian Authority residents to take the helm in a landslide victory at the polls in the PA elections held in January 2006.
Haniyeh insists that mandate is still in force.
The deposed prime minister issued a statement saying “The national unity government asserts here that we are fulfilling our duty according to the law.”
Haniyeh’s words were echoed by Hamas representative Abu Osama Abd el-Moti, stationed in Iran, who promised that the “resistance” to Israel’s presence “will get stronger.” El-Moti added that “Hamas has no intention of establishing a government in the Gaza Strip, and responding to Israel’s and Fatah’s dictates.”
Hamas is insisting that the new Fatah emergency government is irrelevant, the result of an American-Israeli conspiracy, calling it “the peak of illegal political thuggery.”
Spokesman Ismail Radwan told reporters, “The Islamic Resistance Movement considers this government illegitimate and illegal. We will not work with it.”
Nonetheless, there were glimmers on Sunday that Haniyeh has begun to realize the party’s over, dismissing several senior officers in the PA security forces in Gaza. Kamal el-Sheikh, chief of the PA police was one of the first to go, as was the commander of the Preventive Security Services, Rashid Abu Shabak, who had already seen the writing on the wall and tendered his resignation last month.