RAMALLAH, December 11, 2017 (WAFA) - The government has not yet received full responsibility in the Gaza Strip and the agreed upon empowering the government is not yet complete, government spokesman Yousef al-Mahmoud said on Monday.

He said the government is exerting all efforts to assume its duties and responsibilities in Gaza, pointing out that some obstacles, including the return of the former employees to their pre-2007 workplaces, are impeding the process of empowering the government,

He said the latest obstacle added in the last hours was stopping collection of money, which was supposed to begin on Sunday. He warned that this will negatively affect government efforts to cover its financial dues, particularly payments to the employees as stipulated in the Cairo agreement signed on October 12.

Mahmoud called on Hamas to rescind its decision stopping collection of funds and to reinstate it.

Based on the latest reconciliation agreement, the government was supposed to be fully in charge in Gaza by December 1. However, the two parties, Fatah and Hamas, agreed late last month to delay the empowering of the government until December 10.

M.K.