Hamas denies agreeing to formation of joint committee to administer Gaza

The Hamas-led government spokesperson; Ihab Ghussein denied media reports claiming that the government in Gaza has agreed to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas proposal to form a committee to manage the humanitarian and economic affairs of Gaza residents.

Ghussein said in a statement “the news are untrue” and urged the media to investigate its information from official sources before publishing it.

Secretary General of the coordination council of Gaza private sector; Mamoun Abu Shahla told reporters that Abbas issued a decree to form a joint committee to manage Gaza affairs in coordination with the Hamas government in Gaza.

Abu Shahla said “the Committee will work to solve the enclave’s main problems including the power outages and facilitate border crossings for Gazans and would consider mitigating taxations associated with the West Bank government”.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will chair the committee which will include Finance Minister Shukri Bishara; Minister of Economy Jawad Al- Naji; Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh and General Manager of the boarders’ crossings Nazmi Muhanna and adviser to Prime Minister Aziz Abu Daqqa.

Abu Shahla pointed out that the committee will include independent businessmen including himself and chairman of Businessmen’s Association Ali Al Hayek, Chairman of the fuel companies Mahmoud Al Shawwa and former president of the Chamber of Commerce in the Gaza Strip Mahmoud Yazigi.

Abu Shahla said the Committee will convene next week in Ramallah saying “We expect the committee will succeed and will help alleviate the suffering in the Gaza Strip”.