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The Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has announced vast reforms, including an overhaul of institutions and the appointment of several governors and ambassadors to positions that have been vacant for months.
He made the pledges during a speech after a weekly cabinet meeting, as the authority faces increasing criticisms on the need for serious reform.
“Today we announce the launch of the new phase of implementing this programme in the judicial, security, administrative and financial structures, which will focus on strengthening the judicial system and making structural changes, implementing the law and addressing the duration of litigation in the courts, and continuing the dialogue with the union and relevant authorities about approving the assistance system for those in need,” Mr Shtayyeh said on Monday.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to appoint new governors and heads of missions at embassies with vacancies.
“The programme includes several core ministries, addressing the government debt, outstanding water and electricity bills, which Israel deducts from the clearance tax funds, and restructuring some of the services the government provides to citizens,” Mr Shtayyeh said.
The announcement comes two weeks after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Mr Abbas was committed to reforming the Palestinian Authority to potentially reunite the Gaza Strip with the occupied West Bank under its leadership.
His comments followed a meeting with Mr Abbas in Ramallah, during Mr Blinken's fourth Middle East tour since the start of the war.
“The two officials also discussed administrative reforms, which, if implemented, would benefit the Palestinian people,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at the time.
Mr Blinken told Mr Abbas that Washington supports “tangible steps” towards the creation of a Palestinian state – a long-term goal opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government – however, the question of who will govern Gaza after the war ends has not yet been resolved.
The US could support an administration in Gaza run by the Palestinian Authority, which is run by Mr Abbas's Fatah faction, to enable progress towards a two-state solution.
Mr Blinken told Israeli officials that they must stop undercutting the Palestinians' ability to govern themselves through the expansion of settlements, demolition of homes and evictions in the West Bank.
Mr Netanyahu said after meeting Mr Blinken that “Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza”.
However, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant previously suggested that Israel would retain security control over Gaza after the war, and that it would be governed by an undefined, Israeli-guided Palestinian body, with the US, EU and regional partners taking responsibility for the enclave's reconstruction.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
Dir: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz
Four stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
THE DETAILS
Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
