Foreign
Palestinian PM submits resignation letter to President Abbas over Gaza
By Francesca Hangeior
The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday announced the resignation of his government which rules parts of the occupied West Bank, saying “new political measures” were needed given the changing reality in Gaza.
“I submit the government’s resignation to Mr President (Mahmud Abbas),” Shtayyeh said, adding that it comes in the wake of the “developments related to the aggression against the Gaza Strip and the escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem”.
He said he had offered the resignation last Tuesday but was formally submitting it “in writing” on Monday.
Abbas has faced mounting anger since war erupted on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, with many criticising the Palestinian president for not severely condemning the Israeli offensive there and the rising violence in the West Bank.
Since 2007, the Palestinian leadership has been divided between the Palestinian Authority of Abbas, which exercises limited power in the West Bank, and Hamas which rules Gaza.
The resignation of the government in the West Bank comes as several countries, including the United States, have called for a reformed Palestinian Authority that would take charge of all Palestinian territories after the war in Gaza ends.
“The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political measures that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip,” Shtayyeh said in a brief speech announcing the resignation.
He called for inter-Palestinian consensus and the “extension of the (Palestinian) Authority’s rule over the entire land of Palestine”.
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The retaliatory Israeli military offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 29,782 people, most of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he must play a role in determining who becomes the next leader of Iran.
He made the remark, following the death of the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Speaking in an interview with Axios on Thursday, Trump stated that Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s 56-year-old son, is widely viewed as the likely successor but insisted he does not support the idea.
While noting that Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s 56-year-old son, is widely viewed as the likely successor, Trump insisted he does not support the idea.
The U.S. president said he would reject any Iranian leader who intends to continue the policies of the late Khamenei.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump stated.
Earlier this week, Trump also suggested that many of the individuals previously considered potential successors had died during recent strikes linked to the ongoing conflict.
His remarks come after a large-scale military campaign launched by the United States and Israel targeted several sites in Iran.
The development triggered retaliatory attacks across the region and increasing uncertainty over the country’s future leadership.
Iran has yet to officially announce a new Supreme Leader.
United States President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it is too late for Iran to pursue negotiations, despite signals from Tehran indicating interest in talks.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’”
His remarks came two days after he had indicated openness to discussions, amid ongoing joint US-Israeli military operations against Iran.
Speaking to reporters at the White House during a meeting with Friedrich Merz, Trump asserted that the attacks had caused extensive damage.
“Just about everything’s been knocked out,” he said.
Trump also claimed that Iran had been preparing to launch an attack prior to the US and Israeli action, contradicting earlier comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggesting Israel initiated the conflict.
“I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” Trump said.
Addressing concerns about the aftermath of the operation, Trump said the worst-case scenario would be the emergence of a new leader similar to Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
“I guess the worst case would be, we do this, and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person,” he said. “That could happen. We don’t want that to happen.”
Trump further stated that two waves of strikes had killed individuals previously considered as potential successors.
“Most of the people we had in mind are dead. Now we have another group. They may be dead also, based on reports,” he said.
Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be buried in the holy city of Mashhad, the Fars news agency said Tuesday.
Khamenei, who led the country for 36 years, was killed at 86 during a wave of US-Israeli attacks on Saturday.
He was originally from Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, where his father is buried at the Imam Reza shrine.
Before the burial, a “large farewell ceremony” will be held in Tehran, the Revolutionary Guards said on their Telegram account.
No date for the burial was disclosed.
After Khamenei’s death, power was entrusted to a three-man interim council until the Assembly of Experts elects his successor.
It includes the president, the head of the judiciary and a jurist from the Guardian Council, the body that oversees legislation and vets electoral candidates.
Fars, citing an official familiar with the process, reported that “for security reasons”, the assembly’s final meeting could be postponed until after Khamenei’s burial.
Iranian media said the building housing the 88-member body in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, was hit Tuesday by US-Israeli strikes.
Its main headquarters in the Iranian capital was also struck the day before.
AFP
AAU denies withholding NELFUND student loans
Enugu Assembly passes law to harmonize taxes, ban illegal levies, roadblocks
MultiChoice To Shut Down Streaming Platform Showmax After 11 Years
-
News22 hours agoPresident Tinubu Reappoints Ayo Omotayo As NIPSS DG
-
News5 hours agoSecuring Credible Elections in 2027: What Nigerians Must Do.
-
News22 hours agoUS Troops In Nigeria Only On Training Assistance -Defence minister, Musa
-
News22 hours agoArmy Chief, Shaibu deploys more troops to tackle insecurity in Benue
-
News17 hours agoCourt quashes NDLEA’s non-declaration of assets case Kyari, brothers
-
News5 hours agoTinubu Govt Approves New Gratuity Package For Federal Workers
-
News5 hours agoMiddle East War Halts Work At WHO’s Dubai Emergency Hub
-
News17 hours agoWorld Cup: NFF says we’re still hopeful, no word from FIFA yet