Incoming Palestinian prime minister lays out plans for reform but faces major obstacles

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The incoming Palestinian prime minister says he will appoint a technocratic government and establish an independent trust fund to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction. Mohammad Mustafa laid out wide-ranging plans in a mission statement acquired by The Associated Press on Tuesday. The plans include the kind of revitalized Palestinian Authority called for by the United States as part of Gaza’s postwar vision for resolving the conflict. But the PA has no power in Gaza, from which Hamas drove its forces out in 2007, and only limited authority in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any return of the PA to Gaza and his government is staunchly opposed to Palestinian statehood.