Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Ahmed Qurie submitted his resignation to President Yasser Arafat today after complaining of chaos in Gaza following kidnappings by gunmen seeking anti-corruption reforms.
Mr Arafat ordered a security shakeup in the territory and refused to accept Qurie's resignation, officials said.
In remarks afterwards to reporters, Mr Qurie appeared to signal his decision to quit was not final.
A sense of growing anarchy gripped the Gaza Strip, where kidnappers demanding an end to corruption in the security services briefly held four French aid workers and two local officials, including the area's police chief, yesterday.
All were released unharmed.
But the abductions reflected a growing challenge to Mr Arafat from militants trying to strengthen their position before Israel carries out a planned withdrawal of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005.
Mr Arafat, in apparent response to the gunmen's demands, fired the police commander, Mr Ghazi al-Jabali, appointed a cousin, Major General Mussa Arafat, as overall security chief for Gaza, and
announced its 12 security services would be combined into three.
Facing criticism at home and abroad over his failure to clean up and streamline security forces and other institutions after nearly four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence, Mr Arafat has made similar unification pledges but taken no action.
Israeli Justice Minister Mr Yosef Lapid called Mr Qurie's decision to quit "only a symptom of the disastrous situation caused by Arafat".
Israel refuses to negotiate with Mr Arafat, saying he foments bloodshed - an allegation he denies. Mr Qurie, also known as Abu Ala, took office in November. He was seen at the time as more likely to bend to Mr Arafat's wishes than his predecessor Mr Mahmoud Abbas, who quit after losing a power struggle with the president.