The president has accepted the government's resignation but asked the ministers to stay in position until he makes the reshuffle.
The political significance is that President Arafat himself wants the ministers to be more efficient and make better efforts in doing their jobs.
We have been pushed to this situation by the positions of Prime Minister Netanyahu.
We don't think that Mr. Sharon is coming to plant roses all around the road between here and Jerusalem. He is going to come with more aggression, with more atrocities against our people.
Every day, they are hitting any town, any city, any suburbs. This is something that's becoming a daily practice of the Israeli army.
Of course we condemn this act, an act meant to sabotage what is happening here. I think we should consider this as a motive for all of us to work harder to reach an agreement that is good for both of us, that is fair for both of us.
They want a unified city, the capital for two peoples and this is the time that the president (Arafat) feels that he would stress the right of the Palestinians in Jerusalem, the city and the capital of the coming Palestinian state.