Gaza City: Hundreds of Hamas employees began a sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Palestinian unity government in Gaza on Tuesday, vowing to stay until their salaries were paid.

“Our sit-in is peaceful and we do not want to destroy public property, but we will stay here until our members are recognized and their salaries paid,” union spokesman Khalil Al-Zayan said.

Zayan noted that staff recruited by the former Hamas administration had not received any wages for seven months.

“They can no longer support their families, this is unacceptable,” he said of the crisis looming over a spring reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah.

Partial payments of $1,200 each were made to 24,000 Hamas civil servants in late October. But the other 26,000, who work in security functions, have received nothing.

“We’ve had enough of the false promises. Either the government resigns or it takes all of Gaza’s responsibilities, like in the West Bank,” Zayan said.

At the end of December, hundreds of Hamas civil servants blocked the entrance to the unity government’s headquarters during a visit to Gaza by West Bank-based ministers.