| Staff from the Palestinian prime minister's office went on strike Wednesday, joining a widespread work stoppage by civil servants demanding overdue salaries from the Hamas-led government. The strike was especially embarrassing to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who has been leading opposition to the walkout. Hamas accuses the rival Fatah party of orchestrating the strike, which has emerged as a formidable challenge to a government already embattled by international sanctions and widespread anarchy. Without the foreign funds, the government has been unable to pay regular salaries to its 165,000 workers for months, instead handing out small, sporadic stipends. |