Hamas urges government to lift Gaza sanctions or resign

By Mohamed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday called on the Fatah-led Palestinian government in Ramallah to lift sanctions on the Gaza Strip or resign.

In a statement, Hamas said the government had fully assumed responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.

"However, it has continued to impose unfair sanctions on our people and failed to heal the rift and implement the agreements reached in Cairo," it said.

It called on the government to "fully shoulder its duties and responsibilities, including lifting sanctions or tender its resignation".

There was no comment from the Ramallah-based government on the accusations.

In April, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took a number of punitive measures as a way of piling pressures on Hamas to relinquish its control of Gaza.

The measures included cutting the salaries of Gaza-based employees by 30 percent, reducing the provision of electricity to the territory, and forced retirement of around 6,000 employees.

In October, Hamas and Fatah -- Palestine’s two leading political movements -- signed a landmark reconciliation agreement in Cairo aimed at healing their decade-long rift after Hamas captured Gaza from Fatah in 2007 after days of street fighting.

Despite the signs of warming relations between the two rival factions, the Ramallah-based government has yet to reverse any of the sanctions it had imposed.