Hamas to mull alternative to unity gov't in Gaza amid factional spat

GAZA (Xinhua) - The Islamic Hamas movement in Gaza on Saturday said it will consider forming a separatist government in the enclave if the disagreement with other Palestinian factions continues.

Hamas' Deputy Foreign Minister Ghazi Hammad told a news conference on Saturday that the Gaza Strip has been ignored since the inception of the new Palestinian unity government, which has put Gaza into a critical situation, created a deep vacuum there and threatened the internal Palestinian reconciliation.

A salary crisis, in which thousands of Hamas employees in the Gaza Strip have been denied their wages, has haunted the new government since day one. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah announced earlier that the new Palestinian government's budget would not be able to cover a 40-million-US-dollar bill for the monthly salaries of 58,000 civil employees, who were employed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip after it seized control of the territory in 2007.

Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told Xinhua that the movement will not remain patient forever for the ongoing political and administrative vacuum in the Gaza Strip if the territory, which has been under a tight Israeli siege for more than seven years, continues to be ignored.

But Abu Zuhri denied that Hamas is planning to blow up the reconciliation agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' s Fatah party and seize control of the Gaza Strip again. If the current situation in Gaza continued, Hamas would take the proper decision on time, he said.

Musataf Sawaf, a political analyst close to Hamas, told Xinhua that it is illogic to leave the Gaza Strip not ruled while a unity government has been agreed upon and formed, and that Hamas will not accept a Gaza like that for a long time.

"Hamas is very much concerned that neglecting the Gaza Strip in such a way would lead to deep vacuum that will cause chaos, amid a tightened siege that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for so many years," Sawaf said.

Jamil Mezher, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Gaza, told Xinhua that his group had not received any official proposal from Hamas to form an alternative body outside the unity government, and the PFLP would oppose such a proposal.

Talal Abu Zarifa, an official from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also told Xinhua that his group opposes such a proposal, as "it would undermine all the reconciliation agreements and will deepen the internal division."

Amin Maqbool, an official from Abbas' Fatah Party, warned that such an alternative governing body "means direct undermining of the reconciliation." He accused Hamas of trying to escape from its commitments to achieve internal Palestinian reconciliation and end the internal division.