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| Qatar Offers Cash to Pay Some Staff in Gaza Strip | |
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| GAZA CITY — More than half the employees of the former Hamas government in the Gaza Strip will receive salaries this week for the first time in months, officials said Tuesday, addressing a major point of tension between Palestinian political factions that had threatened the reconciliation pact they signed this spring. | GAZA CITY — More than half the employees of the former Hamas government in the Gaza Strip will receive salaries this week for the first time in months, officials said Tuesday, addressing a major point of tension between Palestinian political factions that had threatened the reconciliation pact they signed this spring. |
| Mamoun Abu Shahla, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of labor, said Qatar had donated $30 million that would be distributed in the amount of $1,200 each to about 24,000 public workers, excluding the security forces, starting on Wednesday. Mr. Abu Shahla said that Robert F. Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, had arranged the system, amid concerns that the Palestinian Authority’s direct involvement could lead to backlash from international donors, including the United States, that consider Hamas a terrorist organization. | Mamoun Abu Shahla, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of labor, said Qatar had donated $30 million that would be distributed in the amount of $1,200 each to about 24,000 public workers, excluding the security forces, starting on Wednesday. Mr. Abu Shahla said that Robert F. Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, had arranged the system, amid concerns that the Palestinian Authority’s direct involvement could lead to backlash from international donors, including the United States, that consider Hamas a terrorist organization. |
| The fate of Gaza’s government workers is a critical challenge for the Palestinian cabinet sworn in on June 2 after a pact in April meant to end seven years of schism between Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that has controlled Gaza since 2007, and Fatah, the more moderate secular faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization. | The fate of Gaza’s government workers is a critical challenge for the Palestinian cabinet sworn in on June 2 after a pact in April meant to end seven years of schism between Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that has controlled Gaza since 2007, and Fatah, the more moderate secular faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization. |
| About 70,000 Palestinian Authority employees have continued to receive salaries without actually working since 2007, while 40,000 Hamas-affiliated employees, who continue to handle the day-to-day operations of Gaza’s government, have received partial or no pay since last October. Protests by the Hamas workers shut down Gaza’s banks for a week in June; in September, Hamas gave its workers $275 to $1,240 each in what officials described as a loan. | About 70,000 Palestinian Authority employees have continued to receive salaries without actually working since 2007, while 40,000 Hamas-affiliated employees, who continue to handle the day-to-day operations of Gaza’s government, have received partial or no pay since last October. Protests by the Hamas workers shut down Gaza’s banks for a week in June; in September, Hamas gave its workers $275 to $1,240 each in what officials described as a loan. |
| Palestinian officials say the two work forces must be whittled into one after a vetting process that could take months. Even more challenging is the question of the security forces, since Israel and some other international players consider them an arm of Hamas’s military wing. “We are working on resolving the security employees issue,” Mr. Abu Shahla said. | Palestinian officials say the two work forces must be whittled into one after a vetting process that could take months. Even more challenging is the question of the security forces, since Israel and some other international players consider them an arm of Hamas’s military wing. “We are working on resolving the security employees issue,” Mr. Abu Shahla said. |
| Mohammed Siam, who represents the government employees union, called the coming payment “a positive but insufficient step, because it excludes thousands of other employees.” Also, he noted, some of the 24,000 workers have salaries above $1,200 per month. | Mohammed Siam, who represents the government employees union, called the coming payment “a positive but insufficient step, because it excludes thousands of other employees.” Also, he noted, some of the 24,000 workers have salaries above $1,200 per month. |
| The Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing also announced Tuesday that truckloads of cement that were delivered with great fanfare to Gaza on Oct. 14 but have since sat idle in warehouses would soon be distributed to families whose homes were damaged during this summer’s battle between Israel and Hamas. The ministry’s website listed 894 names of Gazans with damaged homes who would be eligible for vouchers to get the cement starting on Thursday. | The Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing also announced Tuesday that truckloads of cement that were delivered with great fanfare to Gaza on Oct. 14 but have since sat idle in warehouses would soon be distributed to families whose homes were damaged during this summer’s battle between Israel and Hamas. The ministry’s website listed 894 names of Gazans with damaged homes who would be eligible for vouchers to get the cement starting on Thursday. |
| The United Nations estimates that 100,000 homes in Gaza were damaged or destroyed in the war. | The United Nations estimates that 100,000 homes in Gaza were damaged or destroyed in the war. |