Ma'an -- The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah accused Hamas authorities on Monday of dismissing four doctors from Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza for no legitimate reason.
| Egypt intercepted several cash-smuggling attempts by Gazans in the last year. Perhaps Hamas has chosen to lay off staff rather than raise taxes on the citizenry to balance their budget. |
The ministry said in a statement that Hamas ordered the doctors Basel Fada, Wesam Awadallah, Iyas Deka and Mohammad Al-Halabi to leave Gaza's largest hospital immediately, in a decision enforced by the Gaza security forces.
The ministry also appealed for international help in stopping Hamas from "destroying what is left of the health sector in Gaza."
After winning parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip through force in June 2007. President Mahmoud Abbas then appointed Salam Fayyad, an economist favored by donor states, to lead a caretaker government that still holds power only in the West Bank.
Earlier on Monday the Ministry of Health in Ramallah also accused the Hamas-backed de facto government in Gaza of preventing patients from leaving the Gaza Strip to receive treatment abroad. |