RAMALLAH, West Bank: A new Palestinian government, again headed by Salam Fayyad, was sworn in yesterday. The new Cabinet took the oath of office at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
About half of the 25 ministers are Fatah members and the remainder belong to other groups. There is no Hamas member in the Cabinet.
The ceremony came a day after Fatah and Hamas adjourned a fifth round of talks in Egypt without agreeing on a unity deal. The rival factions have been at loggerheads since Hamas forces ousted loyalists of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
Since then, Hamas has run the Gaza Strip and Fatah has been in charge of the West Bank.
Hamas yesterday accused Abbas of “deliberately sabotaging the Palestinian dialogue.” “This government is illegal and we will not recognize it,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
Agreement between the two factions is vital for the reconstruction of Gaza, devastated by Israel’s 22-day war on the Palestinians in December and January that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
International donors pledged $4.5 billion to the Palestinian Authority at a conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in March for the reconstruction of Gaza. But many donor countries refuse to channel their funds via Hamas, insisting the Palestinian Authority must supervise the spending.
Hamas swept Palestinian elections in January 2006 and formed a government two months later, but the Cabinet was boycotted by Israel and the West.
