NEW ''PALESTINIAN'' PM

MOHAMMED Ishtayeh, the man charged with forming new Palestinian government faces many challenges.

Carrying the ''heavy legacy'' of predecessor Rami Hamdallah, who headed the national reconciliation government that emerged between Fatah and Hamas  in 2014, he knows he cannot count on the support of Gaza ruling faction.

It is just not Hamas he must win round.

The majority of Palestinian political factions wasted little time rejecting his appointment, calling it a move by President Mahmoud Abbas that ''violated the national consensus.

Moreover, the new prime minister must also content with a growing financial crisis, partially as a result of Israeli tax policies, which has not been made easier by increased tensions between Israel and Hamas in recent months along the border with Gaza. [Agencies]