(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A group of ministers from the Palestinian unity government on Sunday crossed into the blockaded Gaza Strip for a weeklong visit.
Eleven Palestinian ministers have entered the Gaza Strip through the Israeli-controlled Erez border crossing for a one-week stay aimed at discussing the Gaza Strip's most pressing problems, according to Palestinian Housing Minister Mofeed al-Hasayneh.
"Each of the ministers and accompanying aides would assume their duties from the Gaza Strip for the week," al-Hasayneh told The Anadolu Agency.
Al-Hasayneh said that as of this week, the ministers would perform their duties on a weekly rotation between Gaza City and Ramallah respectively until all pending issues between the two Palestinian territories are resolved.
Ihab Bassiso, the Palestinian government's spokesman, said that the visiting ministers would primarily focus on integrating the Gaza Strip's civil servants who had been hired by rival Hamas movement during the latter's control of the enclave since 2007.
"The civil servants' issue would be of utmost priority to the unity government," Bassiso said at a press conference in Gaza City on Sunday.
Bassiso said that the ministers "will not neglect" the Gaza Strip's energy and water crises.
He went on to say that the ministers would urge international donors to make good on last year's pledges to fund the reconstruction of the beleaguered coastal enclave following a devastating Israeli offensive last year.
Hamas, for its part, has called on the Palestinian ministers not to "selectively implement past agreements."
"We urge the unity government to commit to previous understandings regarding Gaza's civil servants and the [mostly closed] border crossings," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said on Sunday.
He also called on Palestinian ministers to "end discriminatory policies" against thousands of Hamas-hired civil servants in Gaza.
Last month, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah visited the Gaza Strip and held talks with Hamas leaders, during which they discussed the status of the strip's employees, Palestinian reconciliation, administration of the border crossings and the reconstruction of the embattled enclave.
Thousands of the Gaza Strip's civil servants have not received their monthly salaries since Hamdallah's government was unveiled in June of last year.
Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal in April of last year that called for the formation of a national unity government.
The government was formed last summer, but it has yet to assume full control of the Gaza Strip.
Last summer, more than 2,160 Palestinians - mostly civilians - were killed € and nearly 11,000 injured € in a 51-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip which also left thousands of homes destroyed in the territory € home to some 1.9 million Palestinians.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.