(Feb 27): Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow Palestinians to reach consensus about their political arrangements after the Gaza war.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under growing US pressure to shake up the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Several Western countries including the US want the PA to play a role in running the Gaza Strip, which is currently ruled by Hamas, should the war come to an end.

Washington says a ceasefire is now close — Israeli officials headed on Monday to Qatar, where Hamas has its political office, to work on terms of a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, a source told Reuters.

Shtayyeh, an economist who took office in 2019, said the next stage should to take account of the emerging reality in Gaza, which has been laid waste by nearly five months of heavy fighting.

Nearly 30,000 people have been killed by Israel's bombardment and ground offensive, according to the enclave's health authorities, and most Gazans have been made homeless.

"This decision comes based on the political, security and economic developments that are related to the offensive on our people in Gaza, and the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and to what our people and Palestinian cause are facing, as well as our political system that had been aggressively attacked in an unprecedented manner, and based on the genocide, forced displacement, and the starving of people in Gaza..."

Israel says it will not accept PA rule over the Strip after the war.

And it has vowed to destroy Hamas, whose attack on southern Israel on Oct 7 killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Fatah, the faction that controls the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas have made efforts to reach an agreement over a unity government and are due to meet in Moscow on Wednesday.

Shtayyeh's resignation must still be accepted by Abbas, who may ask him to stay on as caretaker until a permanent replacement is appointed.