国际英语新闻:New cabinet of Palestinian authority to be sworn in on Thursday

RAMALLAH, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A new cabinet of the Palestinian National Authority, headed by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will be sworn in on Thursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a government spokesman said.

Ihab Bseiso, the spokesman, told a news conference following a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamdallah in Ramallah that the two leaders agreed that the ministers in the caretaker government of Hamdallah will retain their posts and the ministerial portfolios will be unchanged.

"The government will be committed to all its previous policies, including the economic plans and projects amid the current challenges," said Bseiso.

The spokesman added that the government will keep making efforts to achieve the internal Palestinian reconciliation and end the division with Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamdallah, an academic from the West Bank, succeeded the Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad in June, but he resigned 17 days later for lack of authority. Abbas assigned Hamdallah to form the new government on Aug. 13.

The government is based in the West Bank and has no authority in the Gaza Strip which is controlled by Islamic Hamas movement.