Fresh Gaza protests after Palestinian pay cut

Gaza // Fresh protests against civil service pay cuts broke out in Gaza on Saturday amid pressure on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to act.

The decision this week by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to impose pay cuts on its civil servants in Gaza has sparked anger among the employees, with protests throughout the week.

Tens of thousands took to a square in central Gaza city on Saturday in the largest protest since the 30-per cent cut was announced, with demonstrators calling on PA leader Mr Abbas to sack his government.

A handful of protesters announced they would begin a hunger strike, a spokesman said.

Hamas, the hardline movement that runs Gaza, has been at loggerheads with Mr Abbas’s Fatah party since the former seized the territory in a near civil war in 2007.

After Hamas seized power, around 70,000 PA employees in Gaza they lost their posts but they were kept on its payroll nevertheless.

Hamas set up its own parallel administration with 50,000 staff, whose salaries the PA refuses to pay.

Earlier this week the Fatah-run PA announced the pay cuts, saying they were necessary because its budget has been hit by falling foreign aid.

In 2014 Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a unity government that was meant to resolve their dispute but it has remained stillborn, with no real control in either territory.

Local elections due to take place have also been suspended in Gaza after infighting between Fatah and Hamas, though they are expected to take place next month in the West Bank.

Israel has maintained a blockade of Gaza for a decade, severely damaging the territory and trapping its impoverished people.

*Agence France-Presse

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