Less than two weeks after the Palestinian Unity Government made international headlines, Fatah and Hamas forces have taken to facing off around Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
In Gaza, Hamas police reportedly beat back government workers who had approached ATM machines in order to withdraw monthly salaries that were paid by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority. Local government workers, employed by Hamas, hadn’t been paid.
Despite the highest per-capital foreign aid account in the world, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh made arrangements with the Emir of Qatar to pay the latest wage patent for Gaza civil servants, who have not been paid since March.
Nether Qatar nor Hamas would say how much Qatari money would be needed to prop up the Palestinian Authority this time. More than 110,000 people, or approximately 5 percent of the accepted population number for Gaza, are on the government payroll.
In Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority arrests of Hamas operatives have reportedly continued unabated since the Palestinian Unity Government agreement was signed.