Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh announced today that he has resigned from the government, amid strong pressure from Israel and its allies, who are demanding reforms from President Mahmoud Abbas.

Last Tuesday I put the resignation of the cabinet at the disposal of Abbas and this Monday I presented it in writing, Shtayyed said at the beginning of a meeting with the ministers in Ramallah.

«This decision comes in light of the political, security and economic developments related to the aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip, and the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank,» the official was quoted as saying by the official Wafa news agency.

The Palestinian leader denounced the fierce and unprecedented attack against the inhabitants of the coastal enclave, home to 2.3 million people.

He also denounced the genocide, the attempts of forced displacement, the famine in Gaza, the intensification of the expansionist policy in the West Bank and the terrorism practiced by Jewish settlers.

Shtayyed criticized the neighboring nation’s attempts to liquidate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East and to turn the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) into an administrative security institution with no political content.

This government worked under complex circumstances and faced imposed battles, both from Israel and international crises, including the Copvid-19 pandemic, he stressed.

Five years have passed since the formation of the cabinet, therefore, I see that the next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in Gaza, the national unity talks and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus, he stressed.

In recent weeks Israel repeatedly called for changes in the PNA, which was echoed by the United States and several allies.