The punitive measures imposed by the Palestinian Authority on the besieged Gaza Strip aimed at weakening the Palestinian home front’s resolve and at paving the way for schemes targeting the Palestinian cause, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem said. 

In a press release, Qasem called on the PA to immediately lift the sanctions and enforce the reconciliation agreements in order to heal the internal rift and unite the Palestinian political system.

The West Bank-based PA has been imposing tight sanctions on Gaza since April 2017, including slashing salaries for the Gaza’s governmental staff and reducing medical referrals for the Palestinians in the coastal strip, amid a 12-year suffocating Israeli siege on the impoverished territory.