UN signals full support to new Palestinian government

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations welcomes the new Palestinian unity government and is ready to lend its full support in efforts to reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made the remarks after UN special envoy Robert Serry held talks with Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah.

"The United Nations has long underscored the need for progress towards Palestinian unity," Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"The United Nations stands ready to lend its full support to the newly formed government in its effort to reunite the West Bank and Gaza... under one legitimate Palestinian authority," he added.

That issue, "the serious political, security, humanitarian and economic challenges in Gaza, and holding long overdue elections" were discussed by Serry and Hamdallah, the spokesman said.

Washington also agreed to work with the new government, prompting a furious reaction from Israel, which had urged the international community not to rush into recognizing the new entity.