President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Rami Hamdallah (pictured) as prime minister on Sunday. 

 The Palestinian president on Sunday picked a little-known academic as his new prime minister, according to the official government news agency, following the resignation of his chief rival.

  Mahmoud Abbas appointed Rami Hamdallah to replace Salam Fayyad, who has led a caretaker government since Abbas accepted his resignation in April. Fayyad's decision to step down was viewed as a step toward the possible establishment of a unity government between the two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas.

Hamdallah is a British-educated English professor and has been dean of the Palestinian al-Najah University in the West Bank for the past 15 years. He has served as the secretary general of the Palestinian central elections commission since 2002. He has also held a series of prominent roles in university associations, according to his curriculum vitae, published on the al-Najah University website.

The new prime minister was tasked with forming a new government of technocrats, not politicians.

 (Source: AP, CNN)