Workers in Palestine strike to demand overdue salaries

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hundreds of Palestinians staged strikes and demonstrations Saturday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to demand payment of overdue salaries to government workers -- the first public signs of discontent with the Hamas-led Cabinet's handling of a growing financial crisis.

The unrest occurred ahead of a meeting in Gaza late Saturday between Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and moderate President Mahmoud Abbas. The two, involved in a power struggle since Hamas defeated Abbas' Fatah Party in January legislative elections, failed to resolve their differences during four hours of talks but agreed to meet again today.

Haniyeh has complained that Abbas has stripped the government of many of its powers. Abbas, who seeks a resumption of peace talks with Israel, wants Hamas to soften its hard line against the Jewish state.

"They are going to discuss every small issue and every big thing, whether financial or security," Fatah official Azam al-Ahmed said before the meeting started. "We hope through dialogue we can reach something realistic."

Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruction, has come under intense international pressure to change its ways. After the Cabinet took office in late March, the United States and European Union, the two biggest donors to the Palestinian Authority, cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.

Hamas has rejected the calls, despite a financial crunch that has left the treasury unable to pay the salaries of 165,000 government workers for the past two months. The government is by far the largest employer in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and many families are scraping by on dwindling savings, loans and handouts.

Until now, the Palestinian public had heeded calls for patience, largely following the government in blaming the crisis on Western hostility to Hamas.

On Saturday, however, teachers at five schools in the West Bank city of Hebron canceled classes Saturday -- a strike that affected only a small number of the city's schools but marked a change in attitude.

"I haven't received a salary for 66 days. Of course I'm not happy with the government," said one teacher. "I need to live and I need to feed my children." The teacher, a father of six, asked not to be identified, fearing he could lose his job.

Separately in Hebron, Israeli police clashed with Jewish settlers late Saturday, as forces prepared to evict a group of settlers who have illegally taken over a Palestinian home. Police said an unknown number of settlers and officers were wounded.

In Nablus, also in the West Bank, hundreds of Palestinian government workers demonstrated to demand their salaries.

"If this government can't function, it has to think carefully about its people and change its political way of thinking," said Sheik Majed Dwikat, a local religious leader.

Most participants at the Nablus rally were supporters of Abbas's Fatah party, reflecting the growing tensions with Hamas. Fatah dominated Palestinian politics for four decades before losing the January parliamentary vote.

About 150 people, mostly women and children, rallied in the Gaza city of Rafah, criticizing the government for the growing hardship. The protesters, banging empty pots with large spoons, urged the government to provide milk for children and medicine for the ill.

Late Saturday, Russia delivered $10 million in emergency aid to the Palestinians, bypassing the Hamas-led government by sending the money to Abbas' office.

Abbas immediately distributed the money to health and education programs agreed upon with Russia, his office said. The transactions were handled with the knowledge of Hamas, Abbas' office said.

Palestinian officials said the delivery of the aid could serve as a model for a European proposal to set up a fund to funnel humanitarian aid to the Palestinians without dealing with Hamas. The so-called Quartet -- the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- is expected to discuss the proposal Tuesday.

Much of the power struggle between Hamas and Abbas, who was elected in separate presidential elections last year, has focused on control over Palestinian security forces.

Intensifying the rivalry, Hamas said Saturday that a new security unit headed by a top militant wanted by Israel will begin operating later this month.

Hamas announced formation of the force last month in response to Abbas' decision to appoint a loyalist as head of three agencies controlled by the Interior Ministry. Hamas said the appointment was illegal.

The new unit is to have at least 3,000 militants and be headed by Jamal Abu Samhadana, No. 2 on Israel's wanted list. Abu Samhadana heads the Popular Resistance Committees, a group involved in numerous rocket attacks against Israel and suspected in the fatal bombing of a U.S. diplomatic convoy in 2003.

Abbas annulled Hamas' decision, but the militant group has refused to back down.

An Israeli airstrike late Friday killed five members of the PRC at a neighborhood training camp in Gaza City. Threatening revenge and firing in the air, hundreds of gunmen led a funeral procession for their dead comrades on Saturday.

On Saturday, the army fired artillery shells at suspected rocket-launching sites in northern Gaza, killing a Palestinian farmer, Palestinian officials said.

Earlier Saturday, the army dropped leaflets warning residents to stay away from rocket-launching areas.