GAZA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Authority accused on Sunday the Islamic Hamas movement of tightening its security measures against the PA employees who work at the only commercial crossing in southern Gaza Strip with Israel.
Nazmi Muhana, head of the PA Crossing Corporation, told Xinhua that there is no PA official decision to withdraw its employees from the Israeli-controlled commercial crossing point of Kerem Shalom on the border between southern Gaza and Israel.
"What happened at the crossing today (Sunday) is an individual incident that Hamas is responsible for," said Muhana, who insisted that the PA hasn't decided to hand over the Kerem Shalom crossing to Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Hamas-run Ministry of Interior said in an emailed press statement that they were "surprised" to see the employees of the PA leaving the Kerem Shalom crossing.
"The PA employees left the crossing point in protest over the measures recently taken by our security apparatuses at the crossing point due to security necessities following the recent incidents that happened in the Gaza Strip," said the statement.
On Jan. 6, PA employees pulled out from Rafah crossing point between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt to protest Hamas crackdown on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas then took control of Rafah crossing point in coordination with Egypt.
Both Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossing points are now run by Hamas, while Erez crossing point between northern Gaza Strip and Israel is still operated by PA liaison and police employees.
In 2007, Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip following weeks of fighting with Abbas' security forces. However, Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in Cairo in October 2017 to hand over power to the PA.
The agreement hasn't been fully implemented due to endless deep differences between the two parties.
