Hamas: Unity government punishing Gazans through healthcare sector

Palestinian MP and senior Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya accused the Palestinian unity government of trying to punish the Gaza Strip by putting restrictions on the healthcare sector, Felesteen newspaper reported yesterday.

“It [the unity government] is pretending that there is a crisis in the Ministry of Health,” Al-Hayya said. “The fact is the crisis is not real, but it is planned so as to get the Gaza Strip under the control of the government in the West Bank, as well as the Israeli occupation.”

Al-Hayya’s remarks came during a meeting held by Hamas MPs in Gaza to discuss the health crisis with officials from the health ministry.

Several days ago, the ministry in Gaza warned that it would have to stop many of its services because of the ongoing crisis, blaming the unity government based in Ramallah for this.

“The government in Ramallah is using lies and deception to let the people think that it is offering services in Gaza,” Al-Hayya said, calling on the media to let people know the facts. “This will put pressure on the government,” he said.

Meanwhile, deputy Health Minister in Gaza Yousef Abul-Rish said the ministry would review the work policy in the main 14 hospitals across the coastal enclave in light of the crisis following the severe cuts in expenses and shortage of basic medicines.

Running expenses, Abul-Rish said, are estimated to be 14 million shekels ($3.68 million) a month and the government in Ramallah transferred only 21 million shekels ($5.51 million) in seven months.

He also noted that the ministry in Gaza suffers from a severe shortage of staff as there is an annual need for 700 to 1,000 new employees, but no one been employed for years.

“Instead of hiring new employees, the ministry stopped a temporary work programme and 1,275 employees were fired,” Abul-Rish said.