Qatar to pay $60million for Gaza employees

The Palestinian unity government said that Qatar has pledged to contribute $60 million to temporarily solve the issue of the unpaid salaries of Hamas employees in the Gaza Strip.

About 40,000 employees were recruited by the former Palestinian leadership in Gaza. When they were not paid at the beginning of this month, clashes broke out between them and Fatah employees, who had been paid. This resulted in the closure of banks in Gaza for around one week.

Spokesman for the government, Ihab Bseeso, claimed that Qatar would contribute $20million each month as a short term solution to the current problem. “The government will form a special monetary fund to pay temporary salaries for the employees recruited after 2007,” Bseeso said in an official statement.

He added that a special committee of experts would examine the management problems resulting from the Hamas-Fatah division in place since 2007, and address all problems based on equality and justice.

The government expressed gratitude for the Qatari support and called for other Arab states to follow Qatar’s footsteps in supporting the Palestinians.