Yahia Moussa, chairman of the Palestinian parliament’s Committee of the Audit and Human Rights, has accused PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas as well as the Palestinian establishment in Ramallah of a deliberate policy to weaken Gaza economically. 

In an interview with Palestine magazine, Moussa asserted the policy seeks to punish Gaza, because it is controlled by Palestinian terror organization Hamas – rivals of Abbas’ Fatah party. 

This punishment, Moussa claims, is an attempt to bring about the collapse of public services and cause internal chaos in Gaza. 

Moussa named discriminatory policies, reflected primarily in relation to public sector workers, as proof of this policy. 

According to the chairman, 18,000 civil servant jobs were approved for creation between 2008-2014 in Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria, while Abbas eliminated 25,000 such jobs in Gaza during the same period. 

Statistics show that in 2014 alone, the Ramallah government transferred $940 million to Gaza. 

But according to Moussa, 70 percent of this money was directed to paying the salaries of public sector employees, many of whom are not actually working, thanks to Abbas’s decision to terminate their employment.