Government workers employed by the Palestinian Authority have invaded the Palestinian parliament to demand payment of overdue salaries. After staging a rally outside the legislative council in Ramallah, they stormed the building.

Salaries have been unpaid because of international economic sanctions imposed after Hamas won elections in the Palestinian territories earlier this year. The financial blockade is causing economic hardship in the West Bank and Gaza. The speaker of the assembly, who is a prominent Hamas member, was forced to suspend the session and quit the building. However order was restored later. Meanwhile there were more inter-factional shootings in the West Bank – a further sign of rising tension between Hamas and the president’s Fatah party.

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