Palestinian PM Mustafa forms cabinet, calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa formed a new cabinet on Thursday in which he will also serve as foreign minister, making an immediate ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza a top priority, Palestinian news agency WAFA said, Report informs via Reuters.

Mustafa, an ally to President Mahmoud Abbas and a leading business figure, was appointed premier this month with a mandate to help reform the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

He was also assigned to lead the relief and rebuilding of Gaza, which has been shattered by more than five months of war, while he performs double duty as foreign minister, replacing Riyad al-Maliki who had served in the position since 2009.

Abbas, who as president remains by far the most powerful figure in the PA, appointed the new government in a demonstration of willingness to meet international demands for change in the administration.

He approved Mustafa's cabinet with financial expert Omar al- Bitar as finance minister, and Muhamad al Amour, who served as the president of the Palestinian Businessmen Association, as economy minister, but kept Ziad Hab al-Reeh, former chief of the PA's internal intelligence agency, as interior minister, WAFA said.