Gaza City: Ten months after taking office, cabinet ministers in a Palestinian unity government are making a rare visit to the Gaza Strip.
The Cabinet ministers, all from the West Bank, are spending the week in Gaza in hopes of wresting more control from the Islamist Hamas movement.
Hamas took control of Gaza from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Abbas has governed in parts of the West Bank since then.
The rival factions agreed to form an apolitical unity government last year. But the unity effort has faltered, and Hamas remains firmly in control of Gaza.
Ehab Bsaiso, the government’s spokesman, said Sunday’s visit was meant to “break the freeze.”
Meanwhile. an explosive device was detonated outside the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City overnight, without causing any injuries, UN and Palestinian security sources said late Saturday.
“A bomb exploded near the outer wall of UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza, some 10 metres from the gate, without causing any injuries or damage,” agency spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said.
The Hamas-run security forces also confirmed the blast, saying they had opened an inquiry after “two homemade bombs” exploded, one outside UNRWA and a second elsewhere in the city, causing slight damage but no injuries.
