Hamas government in Gaza gets major overhaul
There are leaks that Hamas in the Gaza Strip is moving to merge and dissolve ministries as part of efforts to counter its financial crisis.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip is currently in the process of merging ministries, to ultimately 14 ministries instead of 23. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was dissolved July 21 and its staff have been transferred to several other ministries, Al-Monitor learned from government sources.
Other ministries will meet the same fate in order to ease the financial burden their budgets are causing. The Hamas government is suffering a financial crisis and took this unilateral decision without referring to the government in the West Bank headed by Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and formed by President Mahmoud Abbas in April.
Although Hamas previously has denied any intention to dissolve ministries, it has been discussing the matter behind closed doors. Back in 2011, Hamas announced that it intended to merge some ministries but it never went through with it.
A Hamas government source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs will be merged with the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Culture with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities with the Ministry of National Economy.
