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Roundup: Heavy duties await PNA PM's Gaza visit

Xinhua, March 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Heavy duties await Prime Minister of the Palestinian unity government Rami Hamdallah as he is about to kick off his second visit to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, officials said Tuesday.

Spokesman for the unity government, Ihab Bseiso, told Xinhua that Hamdallah is scheduled to arrive in Gaza for a three-day visit, adding "he will meet with faction leaders and political groups, including Hamas, in order to speed up reconciliation."

Hamdallah planed his visit amid deep disputes between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party. His visit is to center around how to enable the unity government to properly perform in the Gaza Strip, under Hamas control since 2007.

Ismail Radwan, a senior Gaza-based Hamas leader told Xinhua that the practices of ignorance and discrimination against the Gazans should stop.

He elaborated that Gaza also needs serious and honest political will to solve its problems, adding that political factions should commit to the agreements of implementing internal reconciliation and allowing the unity government to assume its responsibilities.

Meanwhile, Jamal Meheisen, a member in Fatah Party's Central Committee, told Xinhua that Hamdallah visits Gaza to practice his role as prime minister, not to discuss reconciliation.

"We hope Hamas will respond to Hamdallah's request to allow the unity government to act freely in the Gaza Strip and be given full authorities and responsibility to run ministries and control the security situation," he said.

Hamdallah visited the Gaza Strip for the first time since the formation of the unity government last October. He was supposed to pay another visit in November, but it was canceled following a series of bomb attacks targeting properties of Fatah leaders.

The unity government was established last June after both rivals, Fatah and Hamas, reached an agreement in April. However, differences between the two over the responsibilities of the government prevented it from carrying out its role.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee decided last week to send a high-ranking PLO official delegation to Gaza to resume internal reconciliation agreements reached in the past four years.

"No specific date has been set yet for the PLO delegation visit," Ahmed Majdalani, a senior PLO official told Xinhua, adding that the executive committee asked Hamdallah to head to Gaza to pave the way for the delegation.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking Swiss diplomatic delegation is meeting representatives of factions and political powers in Gaza in order to resolve the crisis of salary payments to Hamas employees.

"Our Swiss friends are exerting this effort to resolve the salary crisis and to reach an agreement regarding the best means of implementing internal reconciliation and speeding it up," said Majdalani.

There are around 45,000 employees in the Gaza Strip employed by Hamas after it violently seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007.

These employees haven't received full salary since last year due to Hamas's financial crisis. The newly formed unity government also refused to pay them. This crisis is the crux of the collapse of reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. Endit