Gaza refugee agency staff on one-day strike

Gaza City: Gaza employees of the UN Palestinian refugee agency have suspended services for a day to protest pay cuts and dismissals.

Schools, clinics, and food distributions were halted on Monday as UNRWA’s 13,000 Palestinian employees in Gaza went on a one-day strike.

They threatened “harsher” surge in protests if the agency didn’t rescind cuts by Thursday.

The United States, the largest single donor to UNRWA, effectively ended its $350 million contribution this year, resulting in a $217 million budget shortfall.

The deficit caused 113 emergency program jobs to be scrapped and 584 staff positions were converted to part-time.

UNRWA provides services to millions of Palestinians and their descendants who fled or were forced from homes in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.