GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian Labor Minister Mamoun Abu Shahla told Al-Monitor that Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah informed donor countries that aid shall only be delivered to the Gaza Strip via the legitimate government.

“Hamdallah made this demand during his encounter with all of the donor countries’ ambassadors to the Palestinian territories whom he summoned to his Ramallah office a few days ago. He assured them that his government is the only government for Palestinians and that it is its task to make optimal investment and distribution of assistance to social segments,” he added.

Abu Shahla went on to say that “the government is keen not to turn the Palestinian political cause into a humanitarian one.”

Abu Shahla indicated that the Ramallah government meets 90% of the Gaza Strip's needs, thus spending a monthly amount of $95 million to provide Gaza with education, health services and power plant fuel, and pay the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) employees their salaries. This is not to mention other services. Nevertheless, it only obtains from the Gaza government a monthly sum of $7 million in taxes, Abu Shahla said.