Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq on Saturday slammed the Palestinian national consensus government for failing to take charge, accusing it of “deliberately impeding the reconstruction of Gaza Strip, ” Ma’an reported.
Abu Marzouq said that donor countries had stopped funneling funds into Gaza because the area does not have a “real government” that would be responsible for rebuilding the strip. He blamed the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority for the permanent lack of progress. He also complained that the PA was failing to pay its Gaza based employees in a timely fashion.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
“Despite the long strike by doctors and cleaning companies in Gaza, neither president Mahmoud Abbas, nor the prime minister nor his deputy sympathized with the crisis, ” Abu Marzouq said, referencing a series of protests by medical workers in the Strip angry over major in pay despite the over-time work they put in during the summer conflict with Israel.
Abu Marzouq’s comments, which included veiled threats to dissolve the unity government if the PA does not take charge to improve things in Gaza (which Hamas broke), underscore the gaping political divide between the Fatah and Hamas leadership, Ma’an noted.
Israel and the international community have been deeply suspicious of Hamas continuing to use the Gaza need for reconstruction as a cover for rebuilding and even extending terror tunnels leading into Israel territory. As a result, reconstruction for the 110, 000 Palestinians left homeless following the summer war remains stagnant.