Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad
Photo: AFP
Fayyad government to probe Hamas salary scandal
Palestinian prime minister launches investigation into error that resulted in payment of yearly salaries to thousands of Hamas members. 'West Bank government gave us a pleasant surprise,' says Hamas official
Following the error that resulted in the transfer of yearly salaries to some 3,500 Hamas members, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad decided to launch an investigation into the affair.
Palestinian media sources reported Wednesday that the government – formed on the heels of Hamas' takeover of Gaza – has paid all members of Hamas' special security forces a sum tantamount to 12 monthly salaries.
Wages Affair
Ali Waked
Computer error transfers yearly wages to 3,500 members of Hamas' security forces. Buoyant Gazans say move shows President Mahmoud Abbas' government recognizes them
A Palestinian official told Ynet Thursday that disciplinary steps were likely to be taken against several Palestinian Finance Ministry senior officials, and that some may even be dismissed.
However, the official claimed that the reports were inaccurate, and that much fewer than 3,500 Hamas members received the wages. "Additionally, we are not talking about one-year salaries, but about debts and supplements the Authority owed the clerks. Therefore the sum is much lower than the millions of dollars mentioned in the media," he added.
According to the source, due to the error thousands of Fatah members did not receive their salaries, while their Hamas rivals enjoyed double wages – from Ismail Haniyeh's government and from Fayyad's government.
A member of Hamas security force told Ynet, "I got NIS 2,800 and I thank those behind this mistake in Ramallah. They probably don't know what to do with themselves. The West Bank government certainly gave us a pleasant surprise."
