Gaza’s Ministry: We have not received a penny from PA since reconciliation

Gaza’s Ministry of Education on Monday said that it has not received any funds from the Palestinian Authority (PA) government since the signing of the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas about four months ago.

Undersecretary of the Ministry Ziad Thabet said that the PA government has not paid a single penny to the Ministry of Education in Gaza since then.

In statements to Quds Press Thabet denied allegations by the PA Minister of Education and Higher Education Sabri Saidam that $27 million had been paid to the Ministry’s employees in Gaza after being collected from students and school canteens.

Thabet pointed out that Gaza’s Ministry of Finance is only able to pay a small part of the Ministry of Education’s financial allocations which is never enough. He continued to say that this negatively affects the educational process.

The Palestinian official asked the Ramallah-based PA government to secure the necessary operational budget for Gaza’s Ministry of Education so that it can perform its tasks to the fullest extent possible.

Sabri Saidam had accused Hamas movement of collecting $27 million donated by students and school canteens to pay the salaries of Gaza employees.

The Egypt-brokered reconciliation agreement in October 2017 stipulates that the PA government pay the salaries of the 40,000 employees appointed after the 2007 division starting November 2017. However, the government has not committed to this term despite the fact that all tax revenues collected in Gaza, estimated at $120 million per month, are automatically transferred to Ramallah.

Head of the Gaza Staff Union Ya’cob al-Ghandour said during a protest in Gaza on Monday that the PA government is a major reason for the deterioration in the administrative and humanitarian work and the collapse of social peace in Gaza.

Gaza ministries suspended work for several hours on Monday in protest at the PA government’s failure to assume its responsibilities toward the Palestinian people in Gaza.