Palestinian Cabinet ministers make rare visit to Gaza
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 Islamic 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.
Ihab Bsaiso, the government's spokesman, said Sunday's visit was meant to "break the freeze."
