Newly installed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa announced a package of reforms on Tuesday aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority (PA) amid increased global pressure for a revival of political dialogue with Israel.

Mustafa, appointed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this year, said his government would introduce measures to improve transparency and fight corruption, overhaul the justice system and security sectors and improve public sector efficiency.

In addition, he said the health and education system would be improved, public finances strengthened and economic reforms implemented.

The reform pledges largely match promises previously made by his predecessor Mohammed Shtayyeh, who announced his resignation in February as the PA looked to build support for an expanded role amid Israel’s war against the Islamist terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

The United States and other international partners have pressed the PA to implement sweeping reforms to restore confidence among Palestinians who have become deeply disillusioned with the body set up under the interim Oslo Peace Accords more than 30 years ago.

The urgency to make reforms has increased as attention has turned towards the governance of Gaza, once Israel winds up its military campaign against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel led by fighters from the Islamist movement.

Despite resistance from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington and its allies say the PA must be involved in administering the enclave once Israeli troops pull out.

The United States and most Western countries say only a two-state solution, entailing an independent Palestinian state next to Israel, can offer the chance of a peaceful resolution to decades of conflict.

However, Abbas reacted angrily last week when Washington vetoed a Palestinian request for full United Nations membership, saying the PA would reconsider bilateral ties with the United States following the decision.

The PA has been grappling with a severe financial crisis which has left most public sector employees receiving only part of their normal salary for the past two years.

The crisis has worsened since the start of the war in Gaza as Israel has cut off some of the tax revenues it collects on the PA’s behalf, accusing the Authority of supporting Hamas.

The post Palestinian Prime Minister Announces New Reform Package first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

i24 News – A man in a suburb of Paris is suspected of abducting and raping a Jewish woman, French media reported on Tuesday. The suspect reportedly said his acts represented a “vengeance for Palestine.”

The suspect is a resident of Gennevilliers, one of the immigrant-heavy suburbs of Paris. It is understood he was charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape and making death threats.

French media reported the suspect sent the victim’s mother messages saying he was going to “prostitute” her daughter. The police reportedly were able to geo-locate the victim’s phone and end her ordeal after several days.

The post France: Man Suspected of Abducting, Raping Jewish Woman ‘to Avenge Palestine’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

i24 News – Claims that IDF troops left mass graves on the territory of two Gaza hospitals, where they buried executed Palestinians, are merely the latest lurid fabrication to issue from Hamas, the Israeli military said on Saturday.

“The claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is completely baseless,” the IDF says in response to a query on the matter.

Hamas falsely claimed they found bodies in mass graves at the Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals after the facilities was abandoned by Israeli troops, following counterterrorism operations.

The IDF said it exhumed a number of corpses buried by Palestinians on the grounds of the Nasser hospital in an effort to track hostages.

Earlier in the day Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the U.N. human rights office was working on corroborating Palestinian reports that 283 bodies were found at Nasser and 30 at Al Shifa.

The post ‘Completely Baseless’: Reports of Mass Graves at Gaza Hospitals are False, IDF Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.