The Palestinian government is to be dissolved within 24 hours, AFP reports, quoting a statement made by President Mahmoud Abbas. The government's spokesman, however, denies any such discussion of dissolution.
"Within 24 hours the Palestinian government will resign," Abbas told members of the Revolutionary Council of his Fatah movement in Ramallah, AFP reports, citing several officials present at the meeting.
#BREAKING Abbas says Palestinian govt to resign within 24 hours: Fatah
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) June 16, 2015
The reason for the resignation is the government's inability to act in the Gaza strip, AFP reported earlier in the day citing senior officials with the Palestinian Authority.
“This one [government] is weak and there is no chance that Hamas will allow it to work in Gaza,” said Amin Maqbul, secretary general of the ruling Fatah movement's Revolutionary Council, according to AFP.
While Maqbul is quoted as saying that a new government will be formed within 24 hours, another source, an unnamed attendee of the 15th Revolutionary Council conference quoted by the Maan news agency claims it could take several days.
However, the issue was not discussed at the latest meeting of the collective Hamas-Fatah government, according to government spokesman Ihab Bseiso, AFP reports.
The current government was forged by the rival Palestinian movements Hamas and Fatah in June 2014, after a unity pact ended a violent split that began in 2007.