Ministers haste to tackle daily living problems in Gaza

Eight ministers in the Palestinian unity government will arrive in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to discuss outstanding issues related to the daily living problems in the coastal enclave.

"The ministers have already left the West Bank and they will cross through Erez crossing point between Israel and Gaza in the afternoon. They will stay in Gaza until Thursday," said Ihab Bseiso, the government's spokesman.

The unity government was formed in June last year following an agreement reached between Islamist Hamas movement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party in Gaza City in April.

Since then, both sides have been trading accusations on obstructing the performance of the unity government, headed by Prime Minister Rami el-Hamdallah.

The unity government and Abbas complained that Hamas movement, which had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, is still controlling the enclave and refuses to hand over control on crossing points.

In the meanwhile, Hamas accused Abbas and the unity government of ignoring the Gaza Strip and its populations' hard living conditions, in addition to refusing to pay the monthly salaries of some 43,000 Hamas servants.

Both sides accused each other of obstructing the process of the reconstruction that was agreed during a meeting of donors in Cairo last October to build up Gaza after the destruction caused by last summer's Israeli war on the enclave.

The visit was made in spite of last night's two bombings that occurred near a United Nations' headquarters and also near the office of Gaza Attorney. No casualties were reported in the bombings.

Over the past few days, there were several bombings which happened near security headquarters and offices that are still controlled by Hamas.