RAMALLAH: Hamas on Saturday said that the West Bank-based government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has dismissed 17 Palestinian teachers following recommendation from the Palestinian Authority security forces.
The movement said in press statement that the teachers from Hebron in the West Bank were dismissed for their “political affiliation with Hamas.”
Hamas added that Fayyad’s government has also fired a member of Yatta Youth Club’s administrative committee, to the south of Hebron, under “weak reasons and pretexts.” The movement expressed its sorrow that the move “coincided with the holy month of Ramadan.”
Hamas added that PA’s security forces arrested three of its members in the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Jenin. The movement said that the detainees were Palestinian prisoners recently released from Israeli jails.
The developments came as a member of the new Fatah leadership called on Hamas rulers in Gaza to step up reconciliation efforts so as to avoid “hard decisions.”
Mohammed Dahlan, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, the movement’s highest decision-making body, said that Hamas “has to work on ending the internal Palestinian split because we would be pushed to take hard decisions if the current situation in the Gaza Strip remained.”
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas consolidated his rule in the West Bank, widening political rift with Gaza besides the geographical split.
Dahlan added that Hamas should “seek a serious dialogue to end the division and bring Gaza back to the legitimacy of the Palestinian National Authority.”
If Hamas thwarted Egypt’s efforts to achieve a national reconciliation deal, it would “face a decision that would be hard on everyone and I hope we won’t reach that decision,” said Dahlan, who used to be the top security chief in Gaza before Hamas’ takeover.
