The Islamist militant group Hamas completed forming a Palestinian cabinet on Saturday and expects President Mahmoud Abbas to approve it even though moderate factions have refused to join.
Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh said he would present the names to Abbas on Sunday. He declined to identify any ministers but Hamas sources said loyal members would head key ministries, including interior, foreign affairs and finance.
The group's failure to attract any coalition partners and its decision to appoint its own members to top positions could bolster US and Israeli efforts to isolate the new government diplomatically and economically. "We have no doubt we will succeed in shouldering our responsibilities and running Palestinian affairs. The people who gave us their trust will not starve," Haniyeh told a news conference in Gaza.
"I have agreed with the president to meet him on Sunday evening to present to him the final formation of the cabinet and discuss the next steps toward presenting it to parliament."
Aides to Abbas earlier said he had no intention of rejecting Hamas's cabinet choices, but would press the militant group to make changes to its government agenda, which calls for resistance by any means to end Israeli occupation.
Hamas, which trounced Abbas's long-dominant Fatah faction in a January 25 parliamentary election, has refused to accept interim peace deals with Israel or to commit to seeking a negotiated settlement as demanded by Abbas, a moderate.
A stand-off over Hamas's government programme could trigger a constitutional crisis, some Palestinian officials have said, although Hanyieh played down that possibility.
Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and has not met any demands from Israel or the "Quartet" group of Middle East mediators to recognise the Jewish state, renounce violence and accept past agreements - conditions for Western aid.
Nevertheless, Haniyeh urged donors not to cut off assistance that is vital to keeping the Palestinian economy afloat. "Threatening to cut aid means to punish a free people because they practised democracy in fairness and transparency," he said.
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