THE Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed tonight new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority him economist Mohamed Mustafathe Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Mustafa’s appointment was announced after growing pressure on Abbas to reform and improve governance in the occupied West Bank, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Mustafa, who has studied in the US, replaces Mohamed Staiyeh who resigned along with his entire government at the end of February. He previously served as chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund and was an economic adviser to President Abbas. He was also head of the Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel. The new prime minister, who takes over amid Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, will be tasked with providing aid and rebuilding that Palestinian enclave, as well as reforming the Palestinian Authority’s institutions, according to Wafa .

The Palestinian Authority, dominated by Fatah, had administrative control over Gaza until 2007, when it was ousted by Hamas, which had won parliamentary elections the previous year. Since then, Hamas has ruled in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Although he was a close ally of Abbas, Mustafa, 69, is not a member of Fatah and the Palestinian leadership hopes he could emerge as a unifying factor as it prepares to take on the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Mustafa holds a Masters in Business Administration and Economics from George Washington University and previously worked at the World Bank. On January 17, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said $15 billion would be needed just to rebuild the homes in Gaza. He said he would continue to focus on humanitarian efforts in the short and medium term, expressing hope that the enclave’s borders would be reopened and a summit on reconstruction convened.

When asked if he saw any future role for Hamas, he replied that “the best way forward is to include as many as we can,” stressing that he would like Palestinians to unite around the PLO’s agenda. Palestine.