GAZA CITY—Thousands of government employees and security officials filled the streets of Gaza on Saturday, burning tires, blocking roads and firing in the air to protest delays and complications in receiving their long-awaited salaries.
The Palestinian government on Thursday began paying partial salaries to 165,000 civil servants who haven't received their full wages in months due to an economic embargo on the Palestinian Authority. The individual payments of $350 come from money donated to the government by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
But government employees complained that in some cases, the money hadn't arrived, and in others they were left with nothing after Palestinian banks deducted commissions and interest and paid off existing loans.
The protesters closed the main road between Gaza City and Khan Younis, affecting movement between Gaza City and the southern Gaza Strip.
Outside Rafah City, protesters threw stones at the vehicle of Attalah Abu Sabh, Hamas' minister of culture, breaking its windows. Abu Sabh was unharmed, Hamas officials said. The protesters also tried to enter a number of schools and disrupt studies, witnesses said.
Israel and the West froze economic ties with the Palestinian Authority after the militant Hamas group took power in March. Hamas has refused international demands that it recognize Israel, accept signed peace agreements and renounce violence. With the aid cut off, the government has been unable to pay the full salaries to its workers, a major part of the Palestinian work force, for six months. Government workers including teachers, doctors and security officers have repeatedly staged strikes demanding the salaries and calling for the resignation of the Hamas government.