GAZA CITY, 15 June 2006 — Dozens of Palestinian civil servants, demanding long-overdue salaries, stormed the Parliament building in the West Bank, lobbing water bottles at Hamas lawmakers and forcing the Parliament speaker to flee.
The second attack on the Parliament this week, along with the shooting death of a Hamas fighter in the Gaza Strip, cast doubts on renewed efforts by leaders of the rival Fatah and Hamas parties to halt deadly infighting.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar yesterday returned from a trip abroad with a suitcase full of cash, a sign of Hamas’ desperation to replenish government coffers drained by a Western boycott. The $20 million brought by Zahar will help in reducing the tension in the cash-strapped PA government.
Tensions have been high since Hamas defeated Fatah in legislative elections in January. President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who was elected separately last year, has been in a power struggle with the Islamic group, and 22 people have been killed in factional fighting in recent weeks.
Abbas has been pressuring Hamas to accept a proposal that implicitly recognizes Israel. Abbas, a moderate, has endorsed the plan as a way to restart peace talks and lift crippling international sanctions that have rendered the government unable to pay salaries that sustain one-third of the Palestinian population.
Zahar returned to Gaza after visiting Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, China, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt. Palestinian security officials said Zahar was carrying $20 million which was turned over to the Palestinian treasury. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The border is staffed by members of Abbas’ presidential guard, who are observed by European monitors. The monitors stand alongside the border guards and look at video and X-ray equipment, reporting any suspected violations to Palestinian or Israeli authorities.
Last month, a Hamas official was caught smuggling $800,000 into Gaza. The money was seized but later transferred to the government.
But since Zahar is a VIP, there were no restrictions on him bringing in the cash, the officials said. Zahar returned home and did not speak to reporters.
Hamas claims it has raised more than $60 million from several friendly countries.
But US pressure on international banks has prevented them from transferring the money into the Palestinian territories.
Hamas’ financial woes have caused widespread pain.
— With input from agencies
