Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sworn in a new government headed by a loyalist from his dominant Fatah party, a move rejected by his Islamist rival Hamas.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, an economist and longtime Abbas adviser, will serve as prime minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA).
Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Finance Minister Shukri Bishara will continue in their positions.
Shtayyeh was named Palestinian prime minister on March 10, replacing the independent university president Rami Al-Hamdallah. He will run the ministries of interior and religious affairs until new appointees are named for the two posts.
The rival Hamas group that runs Gaza called the move a blow to unity efforts that have faltered since the two groups signed a new reconciliation deal in Cairo in October 2017. Disputes over power-sharing have blocked the implementation of the agreement.
"This is a separatist government, it has no national legitimacy and it will reinforce the chances of severing the West Bank from Gaza," said a statement issued by Hamas as the swearing ceremony in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank ended on Saturday.
Two factions of Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organisation refused to take part in Shtayyeh's government.
Shtayyeh's immediate challenge is to shore up the cash-strapped PA, which has been squeezed by steep US aid cuts, with the crisis exacerbated by a dispute with Israel over the withholding of some 5 per cent of the monthly tax revenues it transfers to the Authority.
Moreover, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is heading towards a fifth term in office after an election on April 9, said he would annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank if he is re-elected.
If implemented, the move would be a grave a blow to Palestinian aspirations of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. The peace process has all but collapsed and Israel has expanded its settlements in East Jerusalem and the West bank despite international objections.
Palestinian leaders said Israel was being empowered by US President Donald Trump to "violate national and human rights of the people of Palestine".
Speaking to his new cabinet members, Abbas repeated his rejection of Trump's peace plan and said it was not useful to talk to Trump after he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognised the holy city as Israel's capital.
Nickolay Maldenov, the UN special Middle East peace envoy, welcomed the announcement of a new government and promised to co-operate with it.
Australian Associated Press