Palestinian Prime Minister and Government Submit Resignations in Move to Marginalize Hamas

Two days after raising the possibility at a meeting of the Fatah faction, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah has submitted his resignation and the resignations of his cabinet ministers to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The Hamdallah-led government has been in place since 2014 and has presided over numerous attempts to reconcile the Fatah and Hamas factions. But all attempts have failed and the mass resignations are being seen as a mechanism for isolating rival Hamas. The apparent plan is to reconstitute the government with the proviso that its ministers be limited to Palestine Liberation Organization members which would exclude Hamas. Critics warn that it would also put reconciliation even farther out of reach and prevent the presentation of a contiguous territory upon which to build a state.