Palestinians run as smoke billows from the Mushtaha Tower in September after an Israeli airstrike shortly after the Israeli military announced its intention to target high-rise buildings in Gaza City. On Monday, Hamas announced it will dissolve its government in Gaza for a new committee to take over. File Photo by Omar Ishtiwi/UPI | License Photo
July 6 (UPI) -- Hamas representatives announced Monday that they have dissolved their government in Gaza, a mostly symbolic statement that included no mention of disarmament.
The Hamas government has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. The government expressed "full readiness" Monday to turn authority over to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, CNN reported.
Ismail al-Thwabta of Hamas' Government Media Office called on "all concerned and relevant parties" to encourage Israel to allow the committee members to enter Gaza and take up their duties and responsibilities "in order to strengthen the steadfastness of our noble Palestinian people and heal their wounds," he said in the announcement at the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital in Gaza City.
The committee (described as a "transitional, technocratic and apolitical Palestinian" group on its website) is supposed to lead Gaza under a U.S.-led cease-fire plan.
