RAMALLAH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday nominated a senior Palestinian official to form a new Palestinian government, a Palestinian official said.

"I congratulate my brother and friend Mohamed Ishtayeh for being nominated to form the new government," Hussein al-Sheikh, minister of civil affairs and a member of Fatah Central Committee, wrote on his Twitter account.

Ishtayeh, also a member of Fatah Central Committee, will start his consultations immediately to form the new Palestinian government that will succeed the former consensus one headed by Rami Hamdallah.

Born in 1958 in the West Bank, Ishtayeh was the former minister of public work and housing in the Palestinian Authority. He is also an academic, economic expert and former member in the Palestinian peace negotiations team with Israel.

Peace talks between Palestine and Israel have stalled since 2014 because of their deep differences over recognition of a Palestinian state, Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the status of Jerusalem.

Earlier, the Fatah Central Committee, which is chaired by Abbas, and Fatah Revolutionary Council, recommended forming a new Palestinian government headed by a member of the movement's Central Committee.