GAZA CITY - More than 1,000 Palestinian government employees protested outside Palestinian Authority Chairman's Mahmoud Abbas' office in Gaza Saturday, demanding payment of long-overdue salaries.

The workers, many of whom have been on strike since the beginning of September, said Abbas promised he'd pay them a full salary at the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began Saturday.

The 165,000 civil servants, including teachers, police and health care workers, have largely gone without salaries since the Islamic militant Hamas came to power in March and the international community froze foreign aid.

	Advertisement

Last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's bodyguards beat protesters in Gaza City who demanded their salaries.

Legislator Naima Haj Ali of Fatah was hurt in the clashes. Fatah delegates decided to boycott that day's parliamentary session in protest, while the Palestinian Legislative Council secretariat in Ramallah decided to cancel its meeting due to the clashes as well.

The bodyguards began beating the protesters and firing shots in the air when they failed to push back the hundreds of demonstrators who approached Haniyeh's vehicle in the courtyard of the parliament building.