For the first time since its formation in early June, the government of national consensus met in Gaza Oct. 9 in the presence of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. The meeting took place in the residence of President Mahmoud Abbas, west of Gaza City.

Al-Monitor followed up on the arrangements to hold the Cabinet meeting in Gaza, noting that all security, administrative and protocol preparations had been carried out by employees affiliated with the previous government of Hamas, although a number of security officers also arrived from the West Bank.

Government spokesman Ihab Bsaiso said in an Oct. 9 news statement that the Cabinet meeting has significant political implications and is a step forward for the reconciliation. He added that many obstacles were overcome to make the Gaza visit possible, most importantly Israel’s ban on West Bank ministers entering the Gaza Strip.

While the spokesman for Hamas’ parliamentary bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, Mushir al-Masri, welcomed the government’s first meeting in Gaza, he told Al-Monitor, “Hamas is dedicated to the government’s success as a step forward on the path of unity, which we are looking forward to. At this stage, the government has to assume all its responsibilities, especially the reconstruction of Gaza and addressing the issue of the employees’ salaries, so as to prove it is a government of national consensus and not of division — a government for all the people and not one party only.”