Thursday, June 5, 2014

Palestinian disunity: In Gaza, Fatah workers got paid, but Hamas workers did not

(BBC) Scuffles have broken out between Palestinian civil servants in the Gaza Strip after those linked to Hamas found out they had not been paid.

Police had to separate them from Fatah workers and cash machines were closed down.

The Palestinian Authority insisted the Hamas employees would have to be vetted before they received their salaries.

A Palestinian unity government was sworn in on Monday, a key step towards ending the rift between the two sides.

The two factions had governed separately since Hamas, which won elections in 2006, ousted Fatah from Gaza in 2007.

Civil servants employed by Hamas hoped to receive salaries from the West-Bank based Palestinian Authority on Thursday.

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