Hamas employees receive their salaries after months of waiting.

(Baonghean.vn) - For months now, more than 50,000 Hamas officials and employees have not been paid their salaries by the Palestinian National Unity Government. Last week, a large number of employees went on strike to demand that the government pay them their wages.

On Wednesday, October 29, the Palestinian Authority began paying a portion of the salaries of Hamas officials and employees in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of the 24,000 employees of the Gaza Strip government lined up in front of the Gaza City post office to receive $1,200 in cash. This money was transferred by the Palestinian Authority to a bank in Gaza following a week-long strike that paralyzed ministries, departments, and schools in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of workers lined up in front of the post office in Gaza City to collect their salaries. Photo: Mahmud Hams

Nearly 43,000 Hamas workers went on strike to protest the National Unity Government's failure to pay their wages. Oum Youssef, a public service worker, stated, "Ten months have passed and we still haven't been paid. Our debts are piling up, and I still have to pay rent, transportation, and school fees for my children." A UN official announced that the money had been transported through Israel to Erez – a northern Palestinian territory – before being transferred by UN vehicles to the Central Post Office in Gaza.

The amount of money that the Palestinian National Unity Government transported this time totaled $30,000,000, entirely in cash. It is known that banks refused to process money transfers to Hamas because the United States, the European Union, and Israel all consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Therefore, financial institutions refused to conduct transactions to Gaza for fear of sanctions being imposed on them.

Theoretically, on June 2nd, Hamas ceded control of Gaza to an interim government formed through reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). However, in reality, Hamas continues to hold control of the battlefields where fighting with Israel is taking place. This conflict has killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 70 Israelis.

Following the reconciliation, Hamas demanded that the new government pay the salaries of its employees. In early September, the international community announced a boycott of the Palestinian Authority if Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah met this demand. For months, more than 50,000 Hamas employees have not received any wages. Reportedly, on Tuesday, the military and security forces were not paid their salaries.

Hamas welcomed the Palestinian Authority's action and hoped it would be "a positive step toward paying monthly salaries to both civilian and military personnel." Hana al-Absi, a court employee, happily stated, "This is a positive step forward for all civil servants in Gaza."

Chu Thanh –According to Liberation, October 29th