Official: Clashes in Gaza could endanger unity government

Skirmishes broke out in Gaza on Thursday as Palestinian Authority civil servants tried to withdraw their salaries from ATM machines, an incident that a Fatah official said could endanger the days-old unity government, according to various reports.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas swore in the new government on Monday, after seven years of division between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In the weeks leading up to Monday's ceremony, Hamas government workers, who had been on lower than half-pay for nearly a year as at least 1,370 tax-bearing tunnels were destroyed, were concerned they would lose their jobs once the government was formed.

 

But Wednesday's fight was between civil servants for the Palestinian Authority and Hamas officers who were allegedly preventing the workers from collecting their payments, according to PA security forces spokesman Adnan Dmeiri.

 

Dmeiri said he was waiting for Hamas' leadership to denounce the incident and warned that it could have consequences on the unity agreement with Fatah.

 

A PA worker who was waiting near an ATM in central Gaza told Ma'an that he witnessed Hamas-affiliated police officers threaten other PA employees.

 

"No one can receive a salary before we receive our salaries," the worker said a Hamas officer told him.

A Hamas official confirmed that clashes has broken out, but said police forces had intervened quickly to protect civilians and restore order.