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<div class="ViewDetails_Title"><b><big>Hamas officials reactivate
separate parliament in Gaza</big></b></div>
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<div class="ViewDetails_Stamp"><b><small><small><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=753859">http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=753859</a></small></small></b><br>
Published yesterday (updated) 15/01/2015 14:39</div>
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<div class="moz-signature">GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas-affiliated
parliament members in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday reactivated the
coastal enclave's parliament, which had been suspended since a
unity deal between Fatah and Hamas was agreed upon in April.<br>
<br>
The convening of the session, which was attended exclusively by
Hamas legislators, represents a major eruption of tensions within
the Palestinian coalition government and presents yet another
hurdle for officials trying to hold the agreement together.<br>
<br>
Deputy speaker of the Gaza parliament Ahmad Bahar delivered a
speech at the beginning of the session in which he warned of a
possible "blowup" in the Gaza Strip as a result of the delay in
reconstruction, the ongoing crippling Israeli siege, and the
Palestinian Authority's failure to pay monthly salaries to civil
servants employed under the former Hamas government.<br>
<br>
"A blowup is at a distance of two-bows length or less if the
international community does not take action to end the suffering
of the people of Gaza," he said. <br>
<br>
Bahar slammed the Palestinian national consensus government for
keeping itself aloof from the suffering of the Palestinian people
to such a degree that they had decided to sacrifice the Gaza
employees in an "oppressive" manner.<br>
<br>
His comments on the employees dispute comes after days of back and
forth between the PA and the Gaza, as the PA has employed its own
personnel in Gaza and has refused to take responsibility for the
approximately 50,000 employees from the former-Hamas run
government, a key Hamas demand.<br>
<br>
Bahar also criticized the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for
his participation in the recent Paris rally against terrorism in
his speech.<br>
<br>
Abbas, he said, should have instead invited the world leaders to
"confront Israel's terrorism."<br>
<br>
"Or maybe tens of thousands of destroyed houses and martyrs over
the past years are worthless compared to the victims who fell in
France!"<br>
<br>
The Fatah movement, on the other hand, considered the parliament
session in Gaza a unilateral move by the Hamas bloc and a negative
step back from reconciliation.<br>
<br>
Fatah-affiliated lawmaker Faisal Abu Shahla told Ma'an reporter
that holding a session without any of the other factions present
indicates that "partnership according to Hamas means that Hamas
can do whatever it wants and whenever it wants and all others
should only be supportive."<br>
<br>
Abu Shahla slammed the criticism against president Abbas at the
parliament, adding: "President Abbas is an elected president, so
how could he be attacked and accused at the Palestinian
parliament!"<br>
<br>
The convening of the parliament comes only a day after employees
of the former Hamas-run government entered a cabinet meeting of
the unity government taking place in Gaza in protest at their lack
of payment in the last eight months.<br>
<br>
Hamas, which technically stepped down in June but has remained the
de facto power in Gaza, has demanded that the government take
responsibility for its employees.<br>
<br>
By contrast, the 70,000 workers laid off in 2007 when Hamas took
power in the Strip have remained on the Palestinian Authority's
payroll, despite being unemployed. They have been working again
since the unity deal.<br>
<br>
An April 23 agreement between Hamas and Fatah paved the way for
the formation of a government of national unity for the first time
in seven years, but Israel has strongly opposed the deal and
severely targeted Hamas in the months that followed.<br>
<br>
Critics have noted that the unity government has made few changes
in Gaza and failed to help with reconstruction after Israel's
assault on the Strip in a 50-day war over summer 2013.-- <br>
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