Gaza civil servants stage general strike

Civil servants of the former Gaza’s government run by Hamas staged on Thursday an all-out strike over the coalition government's failure to pay employees' salaries.

Head of the Hamas-hired workers' union in the Gaza Strip Mohammed Seyam said the strike will be staged in all ministries and government institutions except for hospitals and emergency centers that will remain open.

The Finance Ministry in Gaza called for paying civil servants' salaries in full and securing needed transportation for employees to be able to reach their workplaces.

Since Hamas took the helm of the Gaza Strip in 2007, about 40,000 employees were appointed in various sectors and they are still in office after the formation of the coalition government in June 2014.

Hamas-hired employees stage every now and then protests to call for paying their salaries.

The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah has been paying its own 70,000-strong workforce in Gaza, even though the majority of them no longer work under Hamas rule.