Cracks appear in reconciliation as Hamas accuses PA of arresting members

The Gaza-based Hamas movement on Friday accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces in the West Bank of detaining 11 of its members, while summoning several others for questioning. This is despite the unveiling of a new Palestinian unity government earlier in the week.

“Palestinian security forces arrested some Hamas activists and summoned several others [for questioning] in the past 24 hours,” the movement said in a statement.

The accusations come on top of Hamas saying on Thursday that the PA security forces had detained five of its members in the West Bank, meaning a total of 16 are now allegedly being held.

Adnan al-Demeiri, a spokesperson for the PA security apparatus, told the Turkish Anadolu Agency nobody had been detained on political grounds.

“The Palestinian security forces have not arrested anyone for political reasons,” said Demeiri.

The Palestinian unity government was announced on 2 June, formed of technocratic ministers, none of which are affiliated to Fatah or Hamas. President Mahmoud Abbas has said legislative and presidential elections will take place within six months.The reconciliation deal between the two parties was agreed in April ending an intra-Palestinian split dating back to 2007.

Tensions remain high, however, with the alleged arrests of Hamas members coming after skirmishes broke out in Gaza on Thursday when Hamas officers reportedly stopped PA civil servants from withdrawing their salaries from ATM machines.

“Thugs and gangsters of Hamas are preventing civil servants from withdrawing their salaries,” security services’ spokesperson Demeiri told the Ma’an News Agency. “They are firing gunshots, beating citizens and smashing ATM machines,” he added.

50,000 civil servants in Gaza are not registered as PA employees because they were appointed after Hamas ousted loyalists of Abbas from Gaza in 2007. Hamas has been unable to pay most of its workers for several months, due to a dwindling cash flow, and they say Thursday’s scuffles involved those employees attempting to stop registered PA civil servants from withdrawing their salaries.

“What happened at the banks was a result of anger by employees at being discriminated against and deprived of their wages,” Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said. “The new government must take responsibility for everyone, and not take steps that will bring back the division of before."

The PA has said it will “study” the possibility of taking the 50,000 strong Hamas workforce onto its payroll.

“The budget for this month’s salaries was prepared before the reconciliation agreement,” government spokesperson Ihab Bseiso told journalists in the West Bank town of Ramallah. “There are many technical procedures the finance minister will see to, and the finance and law committees will meet to study the issue.”

Ismail Haniyeh, who resigned as Gaza’s prime minister after the unity government was announced, phoned the emir of Qatar on Thursday in an attempt to ease the cash flow problem.

A statement released by Hamas said Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani “promised to help”, in particular with the paying of salaries to government employees.