JERUSALEM — The government of the Palestinian Authority tendered its resignation on Tuesday, a move that reflected rising public discontent and the failure of efforts to reunite the West Bank, where the authority is based, and the Gaza Strip, controlled by the militant Islamist group Hamas.

The departing prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, a former university president, has led what was a largely technocratic administration, mostly made up of lawyers, business figures and academics who were technically politically independent but had the approval of both Fatah, the mainstream party that is the dominant force in the West Bank, and Hamas.

But the reconciliation project it was designed to embody has made little progress, and its promotion of a contentious social security law prompted widespread street demonstrations.

The cabinet’s resignation still has to be accepted by the authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, and cabinet officials said it would continue to function until a new government was formed.