Gaza's employee crisis derails latest reconciliation attempt
Tensions are continuing to worsen within Palestine’s consensus government over the issue of the Gaza employees, who still have not been paid.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Enraged, the national consensus government delegation left the Gaza Strip and headed to its headquarters in Ramallah on April 20 after being insulted by the security apparatus that is still operating under Hamas in Gaza, a delegation member told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. The Cabinet ordered the delegation to spend one week in Gaza and one week in Ramallah on a regular basis.
The source added that the delegation — made up of 11 members, including ministers and undersecretaries — felt they were locked up in the ArcMed Al-Mashtal Hotel, where they stayed in Gaza.
The source told Al-Monitor, “The security men forbade the delegation members from receiving visitors, and they would ask visitors at the hotel entrance if they were abstaining employees. They impeded the work of different committees in each ministry and the meeting with employees who were appointed before June 2007.”
An "abstaining employee" is one who was appointed by the Palestinian Authority before Hamas took over the Gaza Strip by force in June 2007 and did not return to work based on political convictions. Hamas appointed 40,000 workers to replace missing staff.
