GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza is awaiting the arrival early next week of a high-level delegation from the Ramallah-based Ministry of Social Development. The ministry is expected to reinstate its programs in the Gaza Strip that were folded last May.
The ministry's programs were discontinued following disputes between the central government in Ramallah and the Hamas administration in Gaza over the running of the ministry. Hamas had undermined the implementation of the programs and the collection of demographic data. In a statement issued by Ramallah in August 2019, the Ministry of Social Development held Hamas responsible for the cessation of its Gaza programs, which benefit the poor.
