Arab countries to pay Gaza employees' salaries in unity government

A number of Arab countries are ready to pay the wages of government employees in Gaza when the national unity government is formed, Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka said yesterday.

During a TV interview Baraka said: “When [senior Fatah official] Azzam Al-Ahmad came to Lebanon he said that Gaza employees will not go home. They will remain in their offices in the same way that Fatah employees will continue with their work and the new government will pay for all of them.”

Baraka said that the EU would not pay for Gaza employees because it considers them “terrorists” but some Arab countries would cover the costs instead.

The Hamas leader reiterated the importance of Arabic and Islamic support for the national unity government. He noted that Israel might launch a sudden offensive on the Gaza Strip or the West Bank under the pretext of fighting a “terrorist” government.

About tangible measures regarding the formation of the national government, Baraka said that Azzam Al-Ahmad and senior Hamas official Mousa Abu-Marzouk would discuss proposed names for the government in the upcoming meeting in Gaza and would set a date for announcing it.

Baraka stressed that negotiations with the Israeli occupation would not succeed without resistance and resistance needs national unity. “Therefore, we need to lay out a united plan to deal with the conflict with the Israeli occupation,” he said.